


A Dreamer, On Top of Everything Else

by Cait_Sidhe



Series: On Top of Everything Else [4]
Category: Dream Cycle - H. P. Lovecraft, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, LOVECRAFT H. P. - Works
Genre: Alcohol, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Angst, Animagus, Anxiety, Blood, Blood Drinking, Bloodplay, Cats, Consensual Kink, Depression, Established Relationship, Hallucinations, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Panic Attacks, Past Child Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Recreational Drug Use, Self-Harm, Torture, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-06
Updated: 2018-02-27
Packaged: 2019-03-14 11:58:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 32
Words: 114,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13589577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cait_Sidhe/pseuds/Cait_Sidhe
Summary: Third part of the "On Top of Everything Else" trilogy.The battle at the Ministry had been bad enough, only for the Astronomy Tower one to have been even worse. On the plus side, Voldemort lost most his inner circle, so he's lying low for now, leaving them to experience their final Hogwarts year in peace... or so they think. There's still plenty of mental trauma to deal with, as always, though there's a new school therapist to help with that... not that they listen to her that much. Plus, there's all the horcruxes to hunt, new classes, more abilities manifesting-- including in Draco-- the Necronomicon is back-- but is it really as bad as it's said to be?-- and of course, a few encounters with horrifying cosmic entities.So what do they do? Escape into the Dreamlands frequently with Luna, of course-- more often than is probably recommended. And of course a healthy-- or not-so-healthy-- dose of mind-altering substances.Of course, there's plenty of good times, too! Including two weddings, a visit to the beach, a strip-club, a Christmas party, and Sirius catches a big break! And some fun with a new form Harry can shift into.





	1. A Boggart and Order Meetings

**Author's Note:**

> As to the title, "Dreamer" refers to someone who frequents the Dreamlands, as it is called in Lovecraft's series of stories known as the "Dream Cycle". You do not need to have read them at all to understand things in here, but I recommend at least reading "The Dreamquest of Unknown Kadath"-- it's a novella, and as it is public domain, can be found easily online (as a majority of Lovecraft's works can be). It's the main work in the series, and most the Dreamlands things I use come from there. Any other works scenes are derived from I'll put in the notes.
> 
>  
> 
> As usual, please note that there will be some definitively adult content within this, including a lot of blood (hey, they are vampires, after all) and heavy drug/alcohol use. Heed the warnings! There is also a later chapter with heavy torture and implied non-con with an object; there will be a warning before that chapter.
> 
> If you feel there should be tags there that aren't, please let me know. My writing tends to have a mind of its own at times, meaning stuff gets added I didn't plan for; I try to add such tags when that happens, but may not realize.
> 
>  
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter; that right belongs to JK Rowling. The Lovecraft stuff is in public domain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will be posting two chapters tonight to start things off.
> 
> Unlike the last two stories, I won't be posting where each chapter aligns with that in the book; very little does for this one, as it has a lot more of Lovecraft's works mixed in as well as takes place at Hogwarts rather than on the run.

Harry dashed up the stairs of the Burrow and climbed the ladder to the attic, closely followed by Ron and Ginny-- they were the only three home, other than Mrs. Weasley, whose scream they’d just heard.

Harry froze. Someone was lying on the floor in front of her! Wait. No, it wasn’t a person-- and it was changing. To look like different people-- namely, her family. Mrs. Weasley was crying on her knees while this occurred…

“Harry, get off the ladder!” Ron called from behind him. “What’s going on? Is she okay?”

“It’s a boggart,” Harry told him, entering the attic, with the other two following. “It’s changing to each of us, but dead.”

Ginny ran over, placing her hand on her mother’s shoulder. “Mom, it’s okay, just a boggart…”

But Mrs. Weasley wouldn’t stop sobbing. The boggart had changed to Ginny, then Draco, then Fred, then Ron, then Hermione… 

“Hold on, I’ll take care of it, mine’s just a dementor, and I had plenty of practice against it when Lupin taught me how to make a patronus.” Harry moved in front of Mrs. Weasley just as the boggart had changed to himself.

But the boggart didn’t turn into a dementor. Instead of changing, it stood up, still in the form of Harry. No, wait, it had changed-- to a vampire. It stared at Harry with hungry cat-like eyes tinged with red.The expression in the eyes was dreadful: cold, deadly, hungry, not an ounce of humanity in there. Blood dripped from the mouth as it grinned mockingly, baring sharp fangs. Clearly, it had just eaten… no, in the process of eating. Harry watched in horror as the figure knelt down, driving the fangs into the neck of a mangled figure that clearly was human, although the features were fuzzy-- after all, the fear wasn’t that he’d feed on a specific human, just a human in general. Harry found he couldn’t move.

Someone pushed Harry aside, and the boggart changed into a book, which was dispelled easily by Ginny. 

“You okay, mate?” Ron asked, from beside Harry.

Harry looked at his friend with panicked eyes, then turned to Mrs. Weasley, who was looking at Harry with a wide-eyed expression of shock. Harry made a strangled mewling noise and popped into his animagus form-- a scrawny yet fluffy black cat with a streak of brown on the forehead. He tumbled painfully down the ladder, dashing away to find a place to hide.

 

*******

 

“Here, kitty, kitty!”

“Seriously, Malfoy? You honestly think he’ll react to that?”

“Actually, Ron, considering he’s probably overcome by the cat’s mind right now, yes.”

“Oh, so that’s the only reason, huh? You don’t call him that in the bedroom, too?”

“Nah, Ginny, he probably calls him ‘kitten’ in the bedroom, like he does out of it sometimes.”

“Aww, that’s so cute!”

“S-shut up, both of you!”

“You’re sure he’s in this room?”

“Yes, I can smell him…”

“Maybe we should start moving things around; this room is full of stuff.”

“No! Fred and George store rejected joke shop things in here; for all we know, haphazardly moving things could blow up the room!”

“But calling isn’t working… Maybe if we get some cat treats?”

“I’m going cat.”

Harry listened to the voices from behind the protection of multiple boxes stuffed under a bed. He had forgotten why he had decided to hide there in the first place, but it was cozy, so he decided to stay there for a bit longer. He didn’t know why, but he didn’t want to deal with humans at the moment. His tail flicked in front of his face… oh, no! There was some dust on it! Harry lowered his face to it and began licking.

“Mew?” Harry looked up to see a pure-white shorthair kitten. He sniffed. Friend! Harry began to purr. 

The friend-cat batted him on the nose and then hopped backwards. Oh, so that’s how it was, huh? Harry batted back, and the other cat moved behind a box. Oh, the game was on! Harry darted forwards, then got caught in a bit of weird fleshy string hanging out of a box. He struggled, but couldn't escape! The friend-cat returned, trying to help him pull the string off, but biting wasn’t working, nor were claws! Then the friend-cat disappeared… Harry stopped struggling. Had friend-cat abandoned him? Harry mewed in resignation as the voices began again.

“He’s tangled in some weird string thing, and I couldn’t get him out.”

“Okay, but we need to be careful about the boxes…”

BOOM. Harry yowled in surprise.

“That was not being careful! I told you they could explode!”

“Okay, okay! I didn’t know you were that serious!”

Harry shook as things around him were moved. Then, his box began to, as well! Harry yowled in surprise as he slid across the floor with the box.

“Careful! He’s attached to the box!”

“Ron, if you hurt my boyfriend, I swear--”

“I know, I know! Sheesh, Draco, you are way too overprotective! Look, he’s fine… let’s get you untangled…”

Harry mewed in thanks as the things wrapping around him were removed, then made to go back under the bed.

“Oh, no, you don’t!” Harry was lifted up by the scrunch of his neck, and then found himself looking into beautiful ice-blue eyes. “Harry James Potter, you will turn back to a vampire right now!”

Harry mewed at the silly vampire. He was a cat! Harry wondered where friend-cat had gone; the vampire’s eyes reminded him of… oh. 

“Harry. I know you can understand what I’m saying, cat-mind or not. You are a vampire. Remember, and TURN BACK.” Those last few words had a strange compulsion attached; Harry decided he should follow that.

Harry looked around the room. It was Fred and George’s old one, full of boxes-- one which was burned, and another with a pile of extendable ears spilling out. Draco, Ginny, and Ron were circled around him… the memories of why he had hidden in his cat form stirred. Harry let out a strangled cat-like cry and leapt forwards to clutch Draco, who in turn wrapped his arms tightly around Harry.

“We already explained things to Mrs. Weasley, and she understands,” Draco informed Harry. “She was actually quite broken up about forcing you to eat, much more so than you being a vampire.”

“[That’s not the main issue,]” Harry muttered to Draco in the dream-tongue, so as to keep the conversation private, silent tears streaming down his face. “[I knew she’d be understanding. It’s what the boggart showed… I still crave it, Draco. I never did before, not this badly, except the time I nearly starved, but now that I’ve had a taste… I thought the desire would fade after a couple weeks, but it hasn’t at all. I’m terrified that the instant someone gets cut, I’ll be on top of them.]”

“[I promise, Harry, you won’t be. You have much more self-control than that.]”

“[But I want it so badly! And being restricted to the potion only makes it worse, I think…]” Snape and Dumbledore had insisted that Harry stick to only the potion, nothing else, until the craving vanished.

“[Did you tell them that?]”

“[Yes! But they don’t believe me. If I can have animal blood, I’m sure it would subside more… but they even made Sirius and Hagrid promise not to give me any!]”

“[Bite me.]”

Harry moved back a bit to look Draco in the eyes. “[But didn’t they also tell you…]”

“[Screw what they told me. You need actual blood, not that stupid potion. Bite me.]” Draco used a highly commanding voice, encouraging Harry to give in.

Harry removed the retainer, and nuzzled into Draco’s neck. He licked the skin slightly, then bit down. Draco closed his eyes and arched his head back, revealing as much of his neck as possible, letting out a slight moan as Harry sucked, some blood dribbling across the skin.

“Er. We’re right here, you know,” Ron said faintly.

“Hmm. I can see why Luna’s so enchanted by it.”

“Ginny! You’re not serious, are you?!”

“I’m quite serious… if they weren’t gay, I might be trying to get a piece of them. Possibly both at once.”

“Ugh. Please don’t talk with me about wanting to shag my best friend!” Ron pleaded.

Harry lifted his fangs from Draco’s neck and grinned at Ron, blood trickling down his chin.

Ron fainted.

 

*******

 

“Hey, Harry, calm down already,” Draco whispered, placing his hand on Harry’s knee to stop him tapping his foot.

“Sorry. Just anxious, I guess. And before you ask: I’m not entirely sure why, as usual.”

Harry and his cohorts-- Draco, Ron, Hermione, Blaise, Neville, and even Luna-- were finally permitted to attend Order meetings. Mrs. Weasley still wouldn’t let Ginny, as she wasn’t of age yet. Technically, Luna shouldn’t have been permitted due to that as well, but she had followed them in like she belonged and no one noticed until it was halfway through the meeting. Harry of course still had a few weeks until his birthday as well, but he was in the thick of it so they couldn’t really prevent him from going. So far, though, it was fairly boring: essentially just review of what had gone on only a couple weeks prior, at what had been monickered the “Battle of the Astronomy Tower.” 

Snape was in the middle of giving a report on what they knew of Voldemort’s wearabouts and followers. It was still undecided whether he would try to rejoin Voldemort or not, as the situation was quite tricky now that literally all the Death Eaters who had been at the battle but he and Nott had been beheaded, and Nott was now under Dumbledore’s protection; it would take quite a bit to convince Voldemort of his continued allegiance, and so far Voldemort seemed to have vanished-- or at least, he had not used the Dark Mark to call the Death Eaters. Chances are he would be quiet for some time, as most his inner circle were dead or imprisoned. Snape reviewed the followers whom they knew were alive, as the list was shorter than stating whom had died. Currently in Azkaban, captured at the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, were Nott Sr., Macnair, Crabbe Sr., Rookwood, Dolohov, and Mulciber; the other Death Eaters whom had been at that battle had presumably all been eaten, as Voldemort only managed to get Bellatrix out and no one from the battle had rejoined him after. As far as anyone could tell, only three, four if you counted Snape, remained free and alive: Pettigrew, Selwyn, and Travers. Thus, unless he could free those in Azkaban, Voldemort would most likely be lying low for a while, attempting to reestablish a base of followers.

“Thank you,” Dumbledore told Snape, as he took back the podium. “Now, everyone, it may seem as though things are calmer at the moment, but I implore you to not become complacent because of such. While Voldemort is still alive, we are in danger, regardless of his number of followers. I remind you, once again, that our recent victory would not have been so complete if that creature had not rebelled against the Death Eaters that had captured it. Surely he seeks to find one now that he can better control. Yes, Arthur?”

“What exactly was that thing, though?” Mr. Weasley asked. “And how did You-Know-Who capture it? I never heard of such a beast until last year! Now, suddenly, another one attacks, it turns out the squid was one too, and you’re saying there are more...”

“Ah, forgive me, did I not explain to everyone?” Dumbledore looked out across the many confused faces. “Seems I have not… well, then. Unfortunately, after the one at the Ministry was released last year, Voldemort got the idea that perhaps he could find another and control it. I did some research on them, and found that they are a race of ancient creatures simply known as the ‘Old Ones’. They are powerful immortal beings with unknown forms and abilities that vary between them. Today, most are sealed away or choose to ignore humans, which is why the knowledge of them has been lost to time.That is all the definitive information we possess on them; there are rumors and old tales about specific ones, but none which can be confirmed.”

“So we’re going in blind on this, you’re saying?” Kingsley asked. “We know nothing about how to defeat them, if he does manage to recruit some?”

“Well, we do know that, in some cases, corundum does seem to have an adverse effect; it has been used to seal some in the past, according to a book I found, and enchanted cuffs made of it are what Voldemort used to control the one last week.”

“Then we can seal them!” Kingsley suggested. “Find ones that aren’t sealed yet, and seal them to prevent them seeking him out and offering to join, then guard the seals.”

“We’re not sealing them!” Harry spat vehemently, to the surprise of most in the room. Harry blushed. “I mean, that probably will only encourage those who aren’t sealed to join him, right? Since then the Order would be seen as the greater enemy. Not that they’d want to anyway, after what he did to Tsathoggua. There’s dozens of them, after all, so no way you can get to all of them before he does.”

“Harry makes quite a good point,” Dumbledore acknowledged. “They are not the type of beings that you want to upset.”

“But zey are beasts, are zey not?” Fleur questioned. “Monsterz? How will zey know the otherz are being sealed?”

Harry snorted. “No more monsters than humans are,” he grumbled, garnering some odd looks.

Ignoring Harry’s remark, Dumbledore answered. “Some can communicate with each other. Regardless, sealing them is not in the cards. Now, Remus, would you please report on the werewolves…”

Draco looked at Harry curiously. “Why are you so upset?” he asked under his breath, so only Harry could hear.

“Because they’re talking like the Old Ones are nothing more than common beasts! No wonder most creatures dislike humans; they’re so arrogant. Looking ‘monstrous’ doesn’t mean one is unintelligent!”

“Well, yes, but remember, all most these people know are from three Old Ones, one which devoured whomever she could grab, another who chopped the heads off of a dozen people, and the third being the giant squid; they know nearly nothing else. They haven’t spoken to them like we have.” 

Most the Order had been told the same details as everyone else had heard about the battles, completely unaware that Harry and his friends were fairly involved with them and the creatures. The Old Gods hadn’t been mentioned, either-- Dumbledore felt the knowledge that they had helped Voldemort could be detrimental to morale, and as they weren’t extremely involved it could be overlooked. It was a similar situation to Nyarlathotep and their group: a little help here and there, but nothing overt, and definitely not at their command. Nyarlathotep did what he wanted, when he wanted, for motivations only he fully knew. The only thing that was definite is that he did not want Harry to die, as Harry was his “pet anomaly,” as he called it-- a unique being, a vampire that had drank Old One blood and gained powers from it, first of the kind, and Nyarlathotep found that extremely entertaining. That’s why the Old Gods had given Voldemort the knowledge of how he could control them: they hated the cosmic beings (which included the Old Ones, Outer Gods like Nyarlathotep, and the Great Ones who ruled the Dreamlands), and despised the fact that there was a new one coming about. Harry didn’t really consider himself a cosmic being, but apparently the Old Gods didn’t want to take the risk that his abilities developed further, hence helped Voldemort in hopes that he would die since they couldn’t overtly attack him without causing an even bigger war. To them, any cosmic being was a danger to humanity, and they would do whatever it took to prevent a new one from coming about-- even if it meant some humans were harmed in the process.

Harry barely listened to the rest of the meeting-- the rest of the reports were fairly boring-- and before he knew it, it was over.

 

*******

 

The next Order meeting was called quickly after the first, an emergency one-- there had been a mass breakout from Azkaban, meaning all the captured Death Eaters had been able to return to him. However, according to Snape, the mark still had not burned to summon them; which made sense, since they’d probably all been gathered anyway during the breakout, since there were so few left... even so, eight Death Eaters were not enough to do much, so things were still fairly safe for the moment, it was decided. 

Still, they needed a spy, so Snape volunteered to try returning to Voldemort, even though that could be fatal to him if Voldemort decided he’d been a traitor. Dumbledore, however, thought he’d accept Snape back, as there was no one left alive to prove Snape was a traitor. Since the Dark Mark hadn’t burned, meaning there were no callings he’d missed, Snape could merely say he’d been searching on his own.

Unfortunately, Nott Sr. had been killed brutally after the escape-- the Order had not expected such. He had not betrayed Voldemort, but he had told Nott Jr. that failure would be punished heavily, and despite having so few numbers Voldemort wanted to show that he followed through on threats.

 

*******

 

“And just where have you been, mister?” Mrs. Weasley glared at Harry, hands on her hips, as he walked through the door-- she had been waiting for him, it seemed.

“Does it matter?” he mumbled with annoyance.

“Yes, it does! You are not yet of age, therefore my responsibility, and I will not have you wandering outside the wards at all hours! If you want to leave the house-- at a reasonable hour-- you will tell me where you go, and I will approve it before you do so. You also will go with someone. We are trying to protect you, Harry!”

“Yeah, I know, but I can protect myself, you know!”

Mrs. Weasley narrowed her eyes. “You may have abilities humans don’t, but that does not make you invulnerable. What if you are caught off-guard? What if a large group attacks? We need to know where you are, so if you don’t return, we know where to look.”

“I was just taking a walk,” Harry easily lied. Logically, it made sense, what she was saying. Yet he could not tell her where he went. What was there to say? ‘Luna, Draco, and I went to a pub in another world, and then climbed a mountain, all in under an hour’? Too many questions he did not want answered, especially since Dumbledore would be highly disappointed if he found out-- he’d relegated to the fact that they couldn’t cut all connections with the cosmic beings, but he still expected them to minimize contact with such and all things related, which included using his controllable cosmic abilities. Like apparition to the Dreamlands. If Dumbledore learnt he’d been going there, he’d instantly know it was via the abilities, and if Harry denied that he would assume he were using the potion again, which he’d also ‘promised’ not to use… right, the Dreamlands were staying a secret. Not even their friends would know how frequent their adventures there had become.

“Just a walk? At 2am?”

“Yeah. I was bored, and wanted some fresh air. I don’t need sleep, remember?”

“I am aware, yes. But that is still no excuse for leaving the property; our yard is big enough that you can take a walk without having to leave it.” 

“Er. Well. I suppose that’s true,” Harry muttered, and indeed it was: their place lay on former farmlands, thus had a backyard reflective of such. “I just didn’t think of such.”

“Harry James Potter. Do not lie to me. You went to the woods, didn’t you?”

“The woods?”

“To hunt. Dumbledore told me you like to do such. He also told me that you promised him you’d stick to only using the blood potion.” Despite her strong voice, Mrs. Weasley’s aura showed her to be somewhat uncomfortable with this conversation-- which was understandable, seeing as despite raising seven other children, none had needed to be told to hold back from draining the blood of animals dry.

“Ah, yeah. Sorry. I actually didn’t, though! Hunt, I mean. I did go to the woods, with the intention to… but I held myself back! I did promise Dumbledore, after all.” That was utter bollocks, of course. Harry had merely promised Dumbledore he would try to hold back; not his fault the old man had interpreted that as though he actually would. 

“Oh. Well, in that case, I suppose I’m proud of you. Just, please tell me if you want to leave the grounds next time, okay?”

“Will do.” The lie came much too naturally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: A quick visit to Baharna in the Dreamlands, and, for Bill's bachelor party and Harry's birthday, a visit to a strip-club, where they find someone unexpected!


	2. The Figurine and The Opal's Eye

“So, you really get to stay here the rest of the summer?” Harry beamed at Draco during dinner a few nights later.

“Yes! I can’t stay with Snape right now, after all.” It had been decided that Snape would attempt to spy again-- although first he had to find where Voldemort was, a journey of which he naturally couldn’t take Draco on.

“You’re not sharing a bed though,” Mrs. Weasley reminded them.

“We don’t really need one,” Harry reminded her, “since we don’t need sleep.”

“Right, well, you won’t be in one together, either way!”

“I still don’t know what eez ze big deal with zat,” Fleur interrupted. “In weezarding France, we do not care what otherz do een ze bedroom! Zey are adultz. Eet eez a natural thing, to want to fuck your boyfriend, ezpecially when you are to be married!” It seemed that by the end, the rant was more about her and Bill, whom Mrs Weasley still insisted on having separate rooms, rather than Harry and Draco, who were both beet red.

“Why- I- That’s-” Mrs Weasley sputtered, seemingly at a loss for words. “Well, Harry is not yet an adult!”

“Molly, he will be in three days,” Mr. Weasley pointed out. “I think Fleur has a point; they--”

“Right! Harry, what do you want to do for your birthday?” Bill said, cutting off his dad before the argument escalated between his fiance and parents. “Perhaps a bar?”

“A bar? Why?”

“Well, you’ll be of age; thought you’d like to see what it’s like having a cocktail in a bar rather than the straight shots of firewhisky Sirius gives you.”

“Oh. I have those at Mindy’s-- where Lupin works.” Harry told him. “But it’d be great to go somewhere with you, too!” He quickly added, seeing some disappointment around Bill. “And try human-oriented ones.”

“Oh! Great!” Bill’s eyes sparkled. “And of course, Draco and Ron will come too, and hopefully Fred and George, and Charlie should be around by then too--”

“Eet sounds as zough you will be having a bachelor party, after all!” Fleur happily declared. “I told you eet is a good idea! Theez way you will not be home alone while I am at my bachelorette one. Ginny, you will be zere, correct?”

“Ah, yeah, I suppose,” Ginny muttered. She still wasn’t the largest fan of Fleur, but, like her mother, she’d gained some respect for the part-veela after her adamant support for Bill upon his facial disfigurement due to the quasi-werewolf-bite.

“As long as you’re all responsible!” Mrs. Weasley reminded them. “I don’t want any of you hung over for the wedding!”

“Relax, Mom, I just plan to take them to the Leaky,” Bill assured her.

“Well, okay, that sounds reasonable… before then, though, I thought perhaps we could have some cake, invite Sirius, Remus, and Hagrid over for it too, have a little party?”

“Sounds good,” Harry agreed, smiling.

 

*******

 

“So, that’s Oriab,” Harry mused. The White Ship, upon which he, Luna, and Draco stood, approached the large island swiftly.

“Yes! Baharna is my favorite city!” Luna chimed. “Just don’t climb the volcano; night-gaunts live in the caves up there. And the ruins on the far side have funny rumors about them.”

“Funny rumors?” Draco inquired.

“Yes. Slimy web-footed creatures that attack people supposedly live there.” 

“Ugh. Doesn’t sound like something we’d want to encounter. We’re staying away from there.” Draco received nods of agreement from the others.

The ship reached the port city of Baharna, gliding into a harbor between the two brilliant lighthouses, Thon and Thal, currently unlint for the sun was high in the sky. Harry smiled. In the Dreamlands, he could let the sun heat his skin all he liked; it was only Earth’s sun that did him harm. The ship docked upon a wharf of porphyry, the flecks or crystal in the deep mauve stone gleaming in the sunlight, and they descended the gangway, marvelling at the stone terraces stretching above them. The group wove through the streets of the haphazard city, climbing up winding steps and through tunnels that dug through buildings of all types of stone imaginable. Looking up, they could see bridges that stretched between some of the towering buildings, as well. On those wider streets which did not have steps, zebras led carts of goods; zebras seemed to replace horses here. They could even climb the steps of the narrower streets, it seemed, for they trotted past the trio quite easily despite riders on their backs. Soon, they came upon a great open space: the town square, where dozens of wooden tables were set up along the sides, upon which the artists of the city sold their works. The city was well-known for its art, particularly the pottery and sculpture, much of which depicted various gods and legends. 

“This is amazing,” Draco breathed. “What a marvellous city.”

The trio began perusing the wares being sold; it was all absolutely brilliant, Harry thought, examining a vase with an image of a battle upon it-- he couldn’t fathom how much skill it must take to get such detail. Soon they came upon a table with stone figurines of a humanoid race with long-lobed ears and large narrowed eyes, both much larger than a human’s, each depiction showing their pointed chins raised with an air of royalty and robed similarly to wizards-- or in the case here, kings and queens. Each was carved by a single type of stone with various colored inset gems for eyes.

“These are images of the Great Ones,” the sculptor happily told them.

“Oh!” Luna’s eyes lit up. “Do you have one of great-grandmother?”

“Great-grandmother?”

“She means Karakal,” Harry explained.

The merchant’s eyes grew wide. “You are related to a Great One? Yes, I have one of her, though I am not sure entirely of the likeness, for few have ever actually seen them. Perhaps you can tell me how accurate it is…?”

Luna frowned sadly. “I’m sorry. She has sent me messages, but I have never met her in person.”

“Ah, I see. Well, she is said to have long golden tresses and brilliant blue eyes, not unlike yourself,” the sculptor selected a figure. “Hence why I chose citrine with kyanite eyes.”

“It’s beautiful!”

Luna ended up purchasing the figure, at a heavy discount the sculptor insisted upon even though she happily told him she did not mind paying full-price. Draco had scoffed at that-- why would one offer to pay extra when given a discount? They continued browsing the wares for a while, then decided to head to the nearby Lake of Yath to go for a swim. On the way, Luna stopped them.

“Something wrong, Luna?” Harry asked.

Luna’s eyes were dangerously alit as she stared at the shop next to them. “We should get matching tattoos!”

“What? No! There’s no way we’re doing that!” Draco insisted. “Besides, what would we even get?”

“Ummm. Cats! No, runespoors! Oh wait, I know; thestrals!”

“We are not getting runespoors or thestrals tattooed on us,” Harry told her exasperatedly.

“But cats are okay?”

“No. No tattoos.”

“But I want matching ones…”

“Luna,” Draco said calmly, used to dealing with her insistent whims. “We already have matching brands due to the animagus ritual. Isn’t that enough?”

Luna pouted. “I guess… oh! We should rent some zebras to ride after swimming.”

The vampires chuckled at Luna’s abrupt, yet typical, change of subject, and agreed to rent some zebras later.

 

*******

 

Bill had lied; they were not going to the Leaky Cauldron for their dual birthday/bachelors party, it seemed. Instead, Bill led his brothers, Harry, and Draco down a side street in Diagon Alley that Harry had never noticed before, over to a building decked in a brightly-lit sign that named it as “The Opal’s Eye,” with a glowing picture of a scantily-clad warrior woman riding a white dragon. He could hear music inside.

“If that’s supposed to be an Antipodean Opaleye, they did a piss-poor job at it,” Charlie scoffed. Well, he would know, Harry supposed, as he was a dragon tamer.

Their IDs were checked by the bouncer, Bill paid the hefty cover charge for them all, and they went inside. There were tables all around, a bar, a large dance floor in the center with people dancing quite suggestively with each other, and on stands all around the sides…

“This is a strip club!” Draco proclaimed, wide-eyed. 

“Yes it is,” Bill grinned mischievously. “And there’s an open bar, too, so feel free to imbibe as much as you want…” Ah, so that’s why the entry fee had been so high, Harry realized.

“Seems like Fred and George already realized that,” Harry laughed, gesturing to the two, who were levitating over what looked like drinks for all of them as the group grabbed a table.

“Holy shit!” Draco proclaimed, staring at one of the strippers. “Harry, look!”

“What?” Harry turned to where he was pointing. “Whoa. Is that…?”

“Yep.” Daphne was on the table, doing quite the suggestive dance on a pole. She looked good, even they could admit that-- much more fit that she had been at Hogwarts, and seemed to glow with an immense happiness. Harry could tell it wasn’t faked, either, via her aura-- she genuinely loved what she was doing. The small stage she stood on was littered with coins-- which made sense, Harry supposed, as the wizarding world didn’t have notes to stick places. They watched her for a few minutes, enchanted, and she looked over at the two and winked. After another few minutes she got off the stage, to be replace by a male they didn’t know. Looking around, Harry realized that there was a mix of all gender strippers, and the club attendees were also a mix. Harry hadn’t expected that, as he stared at a dark-skinned man doing what appeared to be a handstand while on the pole before doing some sort of flip-spin while remaining on it.

Draco nudged Harry playfully. “Liking what you see there, huh?” he teased.

Harry blushed. “Er… it’s just kinda amazing, all the things they can do on those poles, isn’t it? Must take a whole lot of training, to be that good, especially with the strength required to hold such positions!”

Draco rolled his eyes. “Of course, that’s what you’d be paying attention to, not the sexy bodies they possess-- even the women, you have to admit, look pretty fuckable, don’t they?” He winked at Harry, who blushed even redder, choosing not to respond, although he knew Draco was just joking around.

“That’s the spirit!” chimed George, who seemed to be tipsy already. “Hmm… I wonder if any of them engage in other services…”

“Aren’t you dating Angelina?” Ron asked.

“Oh, she won’t mind. Trust me.” Fred winked. “Hey, Harry, Draco, I bet you can find one who’d do a threesome, if you wanted…”

“What! No, that’s…” Harry blushed even further, and Draco’s face grew a slight flush as well.

“Or perhaps a foursome, even,” Charlie grinned mischievously. “I think you could use some fun, Ron.”

Ron coughed. “N-no way! I am not having a foursome with my best friend and his boyfriend! Especially since I’m straight!”

“Oh, having a bit of fun with a boy doesn’t necessarily mean you’re into dating them,” George told his brother. “It can be purely physical, you know.”

“No! I am not doing that!”

“Hey, boys,” Daphne cooed, putting her arms around Harry from behind. “Long time, no see. How are you all doing?”

“W-well, a lot happened, as you probably heard, but I guess we’re fine,” Harry mumbled, his blush even deeper now.

“Has this been where you’re working since you left Hogwarts?” Draco wondered. “I mean, I suppose it’s not that surprising, but why?”

“Oh, well, it’s much more fun than getting NEWTs and then some boring desk job after, isn’t it? Besides, it’s only a side thing. My main job is modelling the products Adrian helps make! This is mostly for fun-- the money is just a bonus.”

“Modelling products… for an adult entertainment business… do I want to know what that entails?” Harry asked.

“Hmm. Maybe, maybe not. I can take you to the special club the company manages, to allow people to test products, if you so desire… but in the meantime, I can give you the catalogue. I’ll owl it to you, okay?”

“Er. I don’t know about that…”

“Oh, no, I think you’ll enjoy it. Maybe want to order something too-- the products can really spice things up in the bedroom, and as you’re already into some kinky things, you might find it fun.”

“Wait, what? We’re not into--”

“Oh, please. Getting off by drinking each other’s blood is deep into the realm of kinky, vampire or not.”

“Wait, you know about that?!” Draco proclaimed. “Since when?!”

“Oh, Adrian and I caught you at it one night before leaving, though you were too absorbed in pleasure to notice,” she revealed nonchalantly, arms still draped casually around Harry. “I had planned to ask you about it when school started up, but then I dropped out, and I felt putting it in a letter might be risky.”

“I- I see…”

“Does anyone else know?” Daphne asked suddenly. “Have you told anyone? I mean, the others here don’t seem shocked...”

“Well, a lot found out on their own,” Harry admitted. “Blaise walked in on us, Neville and Dumbledore found out when I bit the Old One at the Ministry battle, Lupin found out because of his wolf senses and insisted we tell Sirius, Hagrid caught us hunting, McGonagall saw me bite someone at the battle a few weeks ago, Luna knew from the start because apparently she can tell when people will naturally die, and vampires don’t, Pomfrey discovered it when I got sick, Ginny saw a picture Luna somehow had of us, and Hermione put the clues together. Then we told Ron, since he was the only one of our friend group that didn’t know besides you two, so we thought, and Mrs. Weasley found out when a boggart I faced turned into myself, so we had to tell the rest of the Weasleys, and Fleur since she’ll soon be one.”

“Wow. That’s actually pretty impressive; though does indicate that maybe you should be a little more careful.”

“Well, everyone who had the largest chances of finding out knows now…”

“Still, remember, the reporter who revealed your relationship saw you by the lake. You’re lucky you were only kissing, not biting or having sex.”

Harry blushed. “I guess that’s true…”

“Could you talk about a different topic?” Ron’s face was so red it was nearly purple.

Charlie laughed at that. “Ron, you’re at a strip club. Lighten up.”

Daphne smiled playfully, a twinkle in her eye. “If you go to the back, over there, they offer a special service… I feel like you could use that, Ron.” She winked at him.

“Sounds good to us,” George said, as he and Fred dragged a spluttering Ron to the back.

“Well, I have to get back now, my break is nearly over,” Daphne told them. “I’ll see you in a few weeks for the wedding, okay? Oh, and tell Hermione and Ginny they’re invited to my bachelorette party when you see them! And Adrian will be having a bachelor party as well, of course, which you two will be at, no exceptions. Fred and George are of course invited too, and even Ron if he wants-- although I know he’s still a bit iffy about being around Slytherins.”

“He’s warmed up quite a bit, actually,” Draco told her. “In fact, he used my first name the other day!”

“Wow. That is huge progress! Anyway, I really must be going.” Daphne kissed them each on the cheek, then headed back to her stage to relieve the other dancer.

“Hey, Draco, let’s dance!” Harry declared, standing up with a slight wobble.

“Dance? I don’t know, I can’t really--”

“Neither can I! But it can't be too hard!”

“Hmm. I guess I’m feeling the alcohol, because I’m actually going to agree,” Draco laughed, as Harry grabbed his hand and they ran off to dance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Bill's and Fleur's Wedding! Polyjuice doesn't work on Harry, so he needs a new way to disguise himself. The solution? Not what you'd expect, and Nyarlathotep decides to help with that in a somewhat embarassing way! Lots of flirting ensues. Draco's disguise is also quite surprising, and Luna's on a mission to set Krum up with the unsuspecting vampires...


	3. Fashions and Flirtations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A very fluffy chapter. One of the very rare chapters where nothing at all bad happens; in fact, the next few chapters are pretty calm, probably since they're all during the summer-- once school starts back up, no pulling punches. 
> 
> I'll post a second chapter later today; I know I said I'd do one a day, but I'm home sick from work today and have nothing to do other than chores which will be neglected. Plus, the next chapter is shorter, more of a follow-up to this one than a stand-alone.

“Mmmm… Draco…” Harry moaned, as Draco dug his fangs deep into his neck, and sucked a little. Harry wove his hands into his boyfriend’s hair.

Draco removed his fangs and licked up the blood, then pulled Harry into a deep kiss, nipping some blood from his lip as he slid his hand down to cover the bulge in Harry’s pajamas. “I love you,” he muttered dreamily.

Harry reluctantly pushed draco slowly away. “And I love you too… but we really do need to get down to breakfast, before Mrs. Weasley sends someone to retrieve us-- or worse, comes to get us herself! Today is the wedding, after all.”

Draco sighed. “I suppose you have a point… but we will definitely continue this tonight,” he declared adamantly.

“Of course,” Harry purred.

Arriving at breakfast, Mrs. Weasley looked extremely stern, red sparks flying around her. “Enjoy your excursion last night?” She asked in a very saccharine manner, as soon as everyone had gathered.

“Yeah, it was fun,” Bill told her casually. “Just a few drinks, you know, nothing major…”

“Don’t lie to me. The Leaky Cauldron closes at one, and you didn’t return until past two.”

“Er, well, we--”

“Went to a strip club,” Mrs. Weasley stated, a hint of anger showing physically.

“What? How do you--”

“Oh!” Fleur proclaimed happily. “I was worried zat you really would go only to ze Leaky Cauldron! Eet is good zat you did sometheeing more fun.”

Mrs. Weasley glared at Fleur, then turned back to the group of boys. “This is how I know.” She slid a copy of the Daily Profit over to them.

Harry blushed as he saw the headline and photo. “Boy-Who-Lived Parties Hard: Potter Attends Strip-Club for Birthday!” The photo was an up-close shot of him and Draco, clearly drunk, on the dancefloor, engaged in a highly suggestive dance-- surrounded by many others doing the same, of course-- with strippers clearly visible in the background.

“Well, good on you, boys, having some fun!” Mr. Weasley proclaimed, receiving an intense glare from his wife. “I mean, er, that was very irresponsible of you all!”

Ginny snickered. “Hey, Bill, will you take me there when I turn 17, too?”

“He most certainly will not!” Mrs. Weasley declared. “Honestly! A strip-club! Before a wedding! That is--”

“Better not tell her what we did for the bachelorette party,” Harry heard Hermione, whom had arrived the night before and would be staying the rest of the summer, whisper to Ginny, with a slight snicker, causing Ginny to flash a slightly mischievous smile. 

The doorbell then rang-- Fleur’s parents and sister had arrived. It was time to start preparing for the wedding. A large tent had been set up the day before, with many rows of chairs-- the Weasleys’ extended family turned out to be quite, well, extensive, so it was very lucky the yard was so huge. Sirius and Lupin arrived early to help too; Sirius had excitedly started to ask Harry about the club, but was quieted by an intense glare from Mrs. Weasley. 

They decided to try disguising Harry and Draco, so few knew they were there-- they were still supposed to be in hiding, after all, despite Voldemort being on the down-low. Unfortunately, spells to do so didn’t seem to take very well, and polyjuice potion contained fluxweed, which Harry was also now allergic to-- Snape had insisted they test multiple other ingredients to ensure squill wasn’t the only one-- and Draco apparently reacted to it as well, as he promptly vomited up the potion. Eventually they gave up… until Mr. Weasley had the idea to use muggle methods. The magical cover-up Harry had did not work on his curse-scar-- he had tried that before-- but the muggle kind actually did seem to work. Colored contacts worked to change Harry’s eyes to brown and Draco’s to a darker blue-green. Draco nearly threw a fit when they suggested dying the hair, but eventually acquiesced, as the dye was the non-permanent kind that washed out with shampoo. However, he shocked everyone by choosing a bright-blue dye, claiming “people will never guess it’s me, since my family is known for looking and dressing more conservatively.” As for Harry’s hair, being black, no dye would take without bleaching first… so Fred and George decided that a wig would be used instead, presenting him with a long-haired very feminine wig of light-brown hair.

“I am not wearing that!” Harry protested. “I’ll look like a girl!”

“That’s the point,” Fred told him proudly. “No one would guess that it’s you! You could borrow a dress from Ginny too, you’re thin enough that they would fit…”

“I’m not wearing a dress!”

“Why not? I think it would look lovely on you.”

“Where did you come from, Luna?!”

“You know, she might be right…”

“Draco!”

“I will do ze ‘air and makeup!” Fleur declared.

“Let’s find you a dress,” Ginny said, dragging Harry upstairs. It seemed he had lost this battle.

After much fuss, the disguises were complete. Luna snapped a photo, to Harry’s utter embarrassment. However, when he looked in the mirror, he had to admit that he made a pretty nice girl… The hair was done up into a french braid with a gold hair-clip adorning it near the top, and he wore a pretty green short-sleeved summer dress with gold trim. Somehow, Ginny had been able to get it to look like he had cleavage and a slim feminine waist, via a very uncomfortable corset-like thing. Luna tried insisting he wear panties as well, but Harry drew the line there. His neck and wrists were adorned with gold, too, and he had gold dust eyeshadow on as well as mascara, with a pale red lipstick, blush, and gold nail polish. A spell to make his voice higher actually took, thankfully-- Harry did not want to have to actively focus on doing such.

He carefully descended the stairs; Ginny had insisted he wear high-heel corset sandals, of all things, to make him look taller. 

“Ooh! ‘Arry, you look beautiful!” Fleur declared.

Mrs. Weasley scurried over. “Just one problem-- shoes such as those are definitely not good for walking on the grass!”

Mrs. Delacour offered to help with that, transfiguring the shoes to have wider and shorter heels.

“These still are a bitch to walk on!” Harry complained. “How can girls wear these so frequently?”

“Oh, you get used to it after wearing them a few times,” Ginny told him.

“Yeah… pretty sure I won’t be dressing like this again.”

“But you look so pretty,” Luna said sadly.

“Hmmm. You know, she’s right… I wouldn’t mind seeing you like this again…” Draco mused, eliciting a deep blush from Harry. Draco was dressed in black slacks and an unbuttoned dark red jacket over a pink shirt, and Bill had insisted on giving him multiple earrings and nose stud-- all fake, of course, but the effect was amazing. He looked like a completely different person-- very muggle-esque, meaning the chance of recognition was very slim. After all, who would expect a Malfoy to be dressed as a punk muggle, in clothes just barely suited for a wedding?

“But you still have those collars.” Mrs. Weasley frowned. “People will recognize those.”

Harry sighed, then looked at Draco. “To the Garden?”

Draco looked back morbidly. “To the Garden.”

Harry grabbed Draco’s hand, and the two vanished. Within a few minutes, they were back. The collars were off, but Harry did not look very happy, although Draco was laughing vigorously.

“What happened?” Ginny asked.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Harry muttered.

“Nyarlathotep... made a deal...” Draco said between laughs. “For the collars… to be removed…”

“And what was this deal?” Mr. Weasley raised an eyebrow.

“Until the collars are put on again, in three days’ time, Harry has to remain a girl!”

“Well, that’s no problem then, as he’ll need to be all day for the wedding anyway,” Mrs. Weasley said, confused.

“Holy shit, they’re real,” Fred exclaimed, snickering slightly, poking Harry in the chest.

“Quite volumputuos, too,” George added, squeezing one.

Harry’s face reddened. “Stop fondling my breasts!” He-- rather, she at the moment-- hissed.

“Hey, the hair is actually real, too, isn’t it, no longer a wig?” Fred wondering, pulling at it a little.

“Ouch! Yes, it is.” Harry’s hair was still braided with the ribbon, but black now-- no longer a wig. The contacts were still in though.

“Blimey. You’re really a girl?” Ron asked. “As in, all parts are there?”

Harry’s blush deepened. “Yeah, all parts,” she mumbled.

“So we can put panties on you now!” Luna proclaimed, causing the entire room to blush.

Draco laughed. “Nyarlathotep already did-- little green-and-gold lacy ones, to match the dress.”

“Draco!” Harry whined, smacking him on the arm. Her face couldn’t get any redder, though everyone else’s did.

“Well, I suppose you’ll need a female name,” Mrs. Weasley mused, moving the subject away from Harry’s body.

“Why? Harry can be short for female names,” Harry pointed out. “You know, Harriet or something. Can’t we do that? No one will know it’s me anyway.”

“No, can’t take that risk,” Mr. Weasley told him. 

“Pandora,” Luna said. “That’s a nice name.”

“That’s your mom’s name,” Draco pointed out.

“That doesn’t mean it isn’t a nice name.”

The door opened, and Lupin, Sirius, Bill, and Charlie walked in, bringing the cake and quite a bit of alcohol.

“Hey, who’s the hot girl?” Charlie asked, sliding up to Harry. “One of Fleur’s friends? Part-veela too, perhaps?”

“Hey! That’s my b- girlfriend you’re talking too!” Draco complained, grabbing the blushing Harry away.

“It’s also Harry,” Ginny told her brother.

“That’s Harry? You’re kidding me!” Sirius stared at him.

“And the cool punk kid is Draco,” Fred told them. “Quite the transformations, huh?”

“And Harry’s actually physically a girl,” George said, squeezing Harry’s boob again. “See? The god thing did it in exchange for temporarily removing the collars. He-- she, rather-- needs to be like this for three days!”

“You two are horrible!” Hermione proclaimed. “Touching a girl’s breasts like that without permission!”

“Hey, Harry’s not actually a girl,” Ron pointed out.

“Yes, she is, right now!” Hermione said. “Even if it’s temporary, it’s still got to be uncomfortable, right, Harry?”

“Hermione, actually, it’s okay--”

“She’s right! Do that again, and I’ll take away your brooms!” Mrs. Weasley scolded.

“Mom, we’re adults, living on our own,” Fred pointed out.

“You’re still my children when in this house!”

“Yes, Mother,” Fred and George muttered together. There was no arguing with Mrs. Weasley.

“Glad you understand. Now, guests will be arriving soon, everyone else needs to get ready; you all spent too much time dressing Harry and Draco…”

“But they still need names!” Ginny said.

“Charline and Marquis,” Gabrielle-- Fleur’s sister-- decided, and that was that, as Mrs. Weasley then shuffled everyone who wasn’t off to get ready.

A little while later, “Charline”, “Marquis”, Ron, Fred, and George were stationed outside the tent, directing people to their seats. Sometimes they had to escort those who needed help to their seats-- in theory, that meant the elderly, disabled, etc., but Fred and George had decided that all of Fleur’s part-veela cousins required escorting too. Luna tried to help escourt people as well, but apparently disturbed a couple of the other guests quite a bit with her excessive candor, so after a while they insisted she stay at the front at all times, no escorting. Ginny, Gabrielle, and Charlie weren’t helping, as they were the bridesmaids and best man. The guests wore a highly diverse mix of clothes-- most the elderly wore traditional dress robes, but many of the younger ones wore suits or dresses instead. Many people, of all ages, attempted to flirt with Harry, to her dismay-- did this happen to all girls? Draco had become very overprotective at this, and nearly started a few fights over it-- which, Harry supposed, was very effective for her disguise.

“Well, you are a very sexy girl,” Luna pointed out, when Harry mentioned this. “Although, you are very sexy as a boy, too.”

“Luna, are you flirting with her now, too?!” Draco questioned.

“She flirts with you both all the time, didn’t you notice?” Fred pointed out.

“Yeah, if we didn’t know better, we’d think you’re a ménage à trois,” George added.

“I do not flirt,” Luna stated. “I just say the truth…. oh! Hello, dad!”

The four were introduced to Xenophilius Lovegood, who was wearing obnoxious canary yellow dress robes. He claimed such colours brought luck; Harry decided that, as with Luna, questioning what he said would surely be pointless. Luna left to go show him the gnomes.

Ron’s Auntie Muriel arrived then, saying some very rude remarks about the Lovegoods as she noticed them walk away. “And who is this awful punk!” she proclaimed, referring to Draco, a look of distaste upon her face. “Completely inappropriate wear for a wedding! In fact, I see quite a few here are dressed in muggle wear! Fred, George, Ron, I’m so glad that you are in dress robes and not something awful like him. Oh, and I see you finally got a worthwhile girlfriend, Ron.”

“I’m not Ron’s girlfriend,” Harry told her, grabbing Draco’s hand. “I’m Marquis’s; the ‘awful punk,’ as you so kindly put it.”

“Hmph. Well, then, I must say, you definitely could do much better, a pretty thing like you. Although not that my grand-nephews here are good catches, either. I can’t believe Bill is marrying a part-veela, who is French, of all things! He could do so much better… and Ron, didn’t you say you’re friends with Harry Potter? Where is the boy?”

“He couldn’t make it,” Ron told her quickly.

“Hmph. Couldn’t make it because he’s hungover, I suppose; quite rude. I saw him in the paper this morning, and I must say, he’s really gone off the deep end--”

“Okay, Auntie Muriel, I’ll take you to your seat now!” Ron said, dragging her off.

When Ron returned, Hermione had joined them to help, as she had finished helping in the house and people were arriving at a more rapid pace by then-- which made it quite annoying that Fred and George still hadn’t returned from helping a group of part-veela girls. Apparently, Auntie Muriel had had some not-so-nice things to say about Hermione, as well, when she was giving Fleur the tiara. Ron complimented Hermione on her pretty lilac dress, causing her to blush. Harry smiled; maybe this year they finally would get together, as it had been a long time coming. Of course, Ron would have to stop getting jealous at ever boy who crossed Hermione’s path, first… his face had gone scarlet with poorly-controlled anger as Krum, who was apparently one of Fleur’s guests, arrived, and greeted Hermione by kissing her hand while complimenting her looks, which made her blush.

“And you, as vell, look vunderful,” Krum said to Harry, kissing his-- well, her-- hand, and glancing down briefly-- at her cleavage, Harry realized. “Might I ask your name?”

“Ch-charline,” Harry muttered, blushing. Had Krum always looked so delectable?

“Vell, my name is Viktor Krum. It is a delight to meet you, Charline.” He turned to Draco, who was glaring daggers at him. “Und vid dat look, I vould assume you vould be her boyfriend...?” he held out his hand.

“You would assume correctly,” Draco said coldly, ignoring the hand.

“Dr- Marquis, be nice,” Harry said, still blushing vigorously. “Don’t worry, I won’t go running off with him, you know that.”

Draco blushed then. “Right, sorry.” He held out his hand, and Krum shook it.

“Ah, she has you quite vipped,” Krum said with a chuckle, causing Draco to blush even more. “But you are quite the catch as vell, you know. I am sure you do not need to vorry about me stealing her avay.”

“Alright, stop flirting, Viktor. Here, I’ll take you to your seat now,” Hermione said, amusement evident.

Harry smirked at Draco. “You find him hot too, admit it.”

Draco blushed. “So? It’s not like he’d be interested, anyway. And I have you.”

“I don’t know, he seemed a bit flirty with you as well… maybe we can find him after…?”

“Harry! You’re not serious!”

“Oh? You sure about that?” Harry asked, eyes sparking with amusement.

“Please stop discussing this when I’m right here,” Ron pleaded. Harry noticed he was watching as Hermione escorted Krum. “Although, if you do, perhaps he’d lay off Hermione…”

“Pretty sure they’re just friends, mate,” Dean chuckled, walking up to them.

“Dean! Did Ginny invite you?” Harry asked.

“Yeah… er, do I know you?”

“Ah, well, kinda, er…”

“It’s Harry,” Ron whispered. “And that’s Draco. We didn’t want too many to know they were here.”

“Blimey. Harry? That’s quite the change! Polyjuice, I suppose?”

“Yeah, it’s a muggle girl from the nearby village,” Harry made-up on the spot.

“Well, you picked quite the attractive one. Er, don’t tell Ginny I said that… and Malfoy,”

“You can call me Draco.” Draco had been insisting upon that quite a bit among even general acquaintances lately; he did not like being associated with his father.

“Alright, Draco, then. You look quite different as well. I would never recognize you dressed like that, even if the hair and eyes remained the same! I never would have thought you’d be wearing muggle clothes to a wedding, especially such a bold style, with piercings, no less!”

“They’re fake,” Draco quickly pointed out.

“Even so...”

“Hey, what are you doing?” Hermione said, running over. “It’s about to start! We need to get to our seats!”

Once they were all seated, the ceremony progressed. Harry found himself wondering if he’d ever get to have a wedding this spectacular someday. Once the two were declared bonded, they asked everyone to stand, and the chairs all flew into the air-- soon, there was a golden dance floor in the center, the tent sides lifted to reveal the beautiful countryside, tables lined the edges with the chairs surrounding them, a band moved onto the podium, and waiters appeared with trays of drinks-- both alcoholic and dry-- and various appetizers. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Draco found Luna, who apparently had already found a table and saved seats for them.

Bill and Fleur began dancing, and then the parents joined, followed by the bridesmaids and best man-- Ginny danced with Dean, as they were dating, and Charlie danced with Gabriella as neither had brought a partner. Soon, other people-- some friends, some couples-- joined in. Ron asked Hermione to dance, and then Luna dragged Draco out, who shrugged at Harry helplessly. Krum saw Harry sitting alone, and slid into the chair next to him.

“Vould the beautiful Charlene like to dance vith me?” He asked.

Harry blushed. “Well… actually, yes, but there’s something you should know, Krum…”

“You are Harry Potter,” Krum stated. “Und call me Viktor.”

Harry looked at Krum in surprise. “Y-yeah. Viktor. How did you…?”

“Vell, you are quite friendly vith Hermione and Ron, yet she had never mentioned a Charlene to me, and dere is no Harry here. Plus, you have the same vay of valking and talking.”

“You know how I walk and talk?”

“Vell, I did compete against you. Now, Charlene, do you vant to dance vith me, or no?” Krum-- Viktor-- smiled as he stood up and held out his hand.

Harry blushed. “Er. Y-yeah, okay.” She took Viktor’s hand, and let him lead her to the dance floor. Draco, with a slightly jealous expression, caught his eye on the way, and Harry merely winked flirtatiously in response and she and Viktor began dancing.

“Hey, Marquis-- who is actually Draco-- keeps looking over here,” Harry whispered to Viktor after a bit.

“Ah, yes, I noticed. He is die jealous type, ja?”

“Ja, er ist,” (Yes, he is) Harry chuckled. “Aber ich glaube, dass er mit Ihnen tanzen will…” (but I think he wants to dance with you)

“Du sprichst Deutsch?” (You speak german?) Viktor asked, surprised. “Ich hab das nicht gewusst. Und benutz ‘du’ mit mir.” (I didn’t know that. And use informal articles with me).

Harry blinked. Oh. How did that happen? “Ja, so es scheint… aber ich weiss nicht wieso. Hab es nie studiert.” (Yes, so it seems… but I don’t know how. Never studied it.)

“Dann wie weisst du es?” (Then how do you know it?)

Harry shrugged. “Magie?” (Magic?)

Viktor accepted that. “So, er will mit mir tanzen, du glaubst?” (So he wants to dance with me, you think?)

“Ja.” (Yes.) Harry smiled. “Hast du nicht gesehen, wie er früher so viel erröten hast?” (Didn’t you see how much he blushed earlier?) 

Viktor danced them over to Draco and Luna. “May I cut in?” He asked. Draco nodded, moving to grab Harry, but instead Viktor grabbed him and danced away. Harry smiled playfully at Draco, who attempted to glare, but that proved quite difficult through such a blush. Harry twirled away with Luna.

“I think you and Draco should hook up with Viktor,” she said bluntly.

Harry blushed. “Er. No, I don’t think that’s going to happen,” Harry told her.

Luna’s face fell. “Why not?”

“Well, we’re staying here, for one-- Mrs. Weasley would never allow it. Secondly, he’ll be going back to Bulgaria after this, anyway, which is awfully far away-- too much so to apparate, even with my powers. And thirdly, I’m in a female body for the next few days, and have absolutely no idea how that works. Hermione had to explain to me how to use the bathroom earlier! It was dreadfully embarrassing.”

“Oh, well, I can explain that to you,” Luna offered.

“Er, no, that’s okay--” But, it was too late. Luna, as Harry turned bright red, began explaining the female body to Harry as they danced, in as much detail as she could manage.

“May I cut in?” Draco asked.

“Yes please!” Harry said, as Viktor took Luna and Draco began dancing with Harry.

Draco raised an eyebrow. “You look quite happy to get away from her. What did she say?”

“Well, first she said you and I should go shag Viktor.”

“Yes, she said that to me, as well,” Draco chuckled, not mentioning the use of Krum’s first name, though he noticed.

“Yeah, I figured she might have. But then I mentioned it’d be tough because I don’t know anything about the female body, and she took it upon herself to explain it to me in detail… I now know more about female anatomy than probably even most straight blokes do. Possibly more than most birds, too.”

Draco laughed mirthfully at that. “Well, I suppose that will come in handy for later tonight, at least-- It’s already been a week, and I am not going three more days without shagging you. We’re sneaking out to the woods tonight, no excuses. Hunting, too.”

“Sounds delightful,” Harry purred, giving Draco a small peck on the lips, which turned into a bit more than just a peck.

Someone coughed next to them, and they blushed as Mrs. Weasley, who was dancing with Bill, shot them a glare.

“Hey, Draco,” Harry whispered a moment later, and gestured over to Luna and Viktor. They watched Luna give a very surprised Viktor a quick kiss, and then whisper something in his ear. Viktor looked curiously towards Harry and Draco, giving them a flirtatious smile and wink when he caught their eye, and they both blushed deeply.

“She is definitely trying to set us up with Viktor,” Draco muttered.

“And I think it might be working,” Harry said faintly.

Soon, they saw Hermione and Ron return to the table, as well as Ginny and Dean, so Harry and Draco decided to take a break-- if they wanted to pass as human, after all, they had to pretend to have limited stamina. They grabbed some firewhiskey cocktails from a passing waiter. Luna and Viktor were off talking to her father, whom Viktor seemed to be angry with.

“So,” Ginny said conspiratorially. “You two and Krum getting along pretty well, huh?”

“Er. Well, I guess,” Harry said, trying, and failing, not to blush.

Draco sighed. “Luna seems to have it in her head that we should have a threesome with him, and is determined to set it up.”

“Oh? And is it working?” Dean asked curiously. “And, er, does he even know who you are?”

“Yes, he knows,” Harry sighed. “He figured it out, but I was going to tell him anyway-- I thought that might stop him flirting, but, well, if anything, confirming that only increased it.”

“Wait, so Krum is gay?” Ron asked in surprise.

“Ron, I’m a girl at the moment,” Harry reminded him. “And he was definitely admiring my cleavage when we were dancing.”

“Well, it is pretty impressive,” Dean pointed out.

“Dean!” Ginny scolded.

“What? You can’t say it isn’t. I saw you looking earlier too.”

Ginny blushed. “Okay, fine. It is very nice.”

“Please stop talking about my breasts,” Harry muttered, crossing her arms to cover them.

“But they’re beautiful,” Luna said, sliding her hands around Harry’s neck to rest her hands on them.

“Luna, you’re drunk, aren’t you?” Harry sighed.

“I haven’t had anything yet,” Luna claimed. “Though it would be nice…” she reached over and grabbed Harry’s cocktail, taking a sip, still wrapped around him-- well, her.

“Luna, hasn’t anyone told you it’s rude to grope someone without permission?” Hermione scolded.

“But Harry doesn’t mind,” Luna protested.

“I do when it’s in public,” Harry told her. “People are starting to stare.”

“Oh, phooey,” Luna said, moving away from Harry and plopping into the free seat next to Ginny, still holding Harry’s drink. “Oh, by the way, Harry, Draco: Viktor wants to meet us by the garden later tonight.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: A surprising revelation about Harry's female form, Daphne and Adrian give them a tour of their workplace's showroom before their wedding, and an article in Witch Weekly that probably should have been expected.


	4. Miscellaneous Happenings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "It is a certain hour of twilight glooms,  
> Mostly in autumn, when the star-wind pours  
> Down hilltop streets, deserted out-of-doors,  
> But shewing early lamplight from snug rooms.  
> The dead leaves rush in strange, fantastic twists,  
> And chimney-smoke whirls round with alien grace,  
> Heeding geometries of outer space,  
> While Fomalhaut peers in through southward mists.
> 
> This is the hour when moonstruck poets know  
> What fungi sprout in Yuggoth, and what scents  
> And tints of flowers fill Nithon’s continents,  
> Such as in no poor earthly garden blow.  
> Yet for each dream these winds to us convey,  
> A dozen more of ours they sweep away!"
> 
> \--H.P. Lovecraft, "Fungi From Yuggoth, XIV: Star-Winds"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is essentually a bunch of mini-scenes to clear stuff up and move things along. Lots of fun and humor. Also essentially 99% dialogue.

“Please tell me you’re joking,” Harry begged the large multicolored anthropomorphic coyote.

“Nope, not at all,” Nyarlathotep cackled. “You could have changed back whenever you pleased! And you can become female again whenever you desire, as well. Sthanee gives quite nice gifts, does he not?”

Harry blinked. “That was what Sthanee gave me?” Sthanee was the giant squid from Hogwarts, whom happened to be an Old One and granted Harry with new powers when it died, though failed to say what they were. “Wait a second… did I get the ability to speak german that way, too?”

“German? No, universal language comprehension is an ability all cosmic beings possess. Sthanee only gave you the shape-shifting ability.”

“That’s not very useful if I can only shift genders.”

“You can change your hair length too.”

“And that’s it?”

“Well, Sthanee was quite the jokester.” 

“But changing form, even if it’s only between genders, IS immensely useful,” Draco piped up. “You were perfectly disguised the other night. Your male form is highly notable, so if you ever need to be more anonymous, you can just become female.”

“I suppose…”

“It also helped you net that quidditch player… I must say, that was quite entertaining to watch!”

“You were watching?!” Draco squeaked.

“A little bit. I went to tell you about changing back once the wedding was over, but you were simply so caught up in the moment… I do hope you used protection though; don’t want any children coming about, do you?” He winked.

Harry froze. “Wait, what? That… I’m in male form now! There’s no way!”

“Oh? Are you sure about that?”

“Harry, he’s joking,” Draco said, sighing. “Vampires are sterile to begin with, remember?”

“Oh, right, I forgot. Er. Hold on. Then why do we have sperm if it doesn’t work?”

Nyarlathotep laughed. “My child, do you really think I’d be so cruel as to allow such a wonderful thing to be taken away from any creature? My current form was regarded among the Aztec not only as a trickster, but also as a god of sexuality. I would never help create a species that cannot have an orgasm!”

“Right. Okay. Er. Can we go back now?”

“You’re forgetting the deal. Collars first… and perhaps some fun...”

 

*******

 

“Why are you still in female form, yet have the collar back on?” George asked, once Harry and Draco had returned from visiting Nyarlathotep.

“What? Oh, sorry,” Harry said, shifting back to male.

“Wait, what? You can shift at will?!” Fred asked incredulously.

“Er, yeah. Apparently that’s the power the giant squid granted me.”

“Shape-shifting? That’s wicked! What else can you change to?” Ron asked.

“Just female. And my cat animagus. Oh, and I can change my hair length.”

“Well, that’s somewhat anticlimactic,” Hermione stated.

“Oh! Does that mean I can dress you up again?” Ginny asked excitedly.

“Er. If I ever need to have a disguise again, I suppose...”

“I want to put ribbons in your hair!” Luna proclaimed. “Make it long!” She had been visiting them most days now; apparently, she lived just over the hill.

Harry sighed. “Seriously? Okay, fine, guess there’s not much else to do today anyway…”

“Yay!” Luna grabbed Harry’s wrist and dragged him towards Ginny’s bedroom. “Come on, Ginny! I’ll need to borrow your makeup, too!”

“What? Makeup? I didn’t agree on makeup!” Harry complained. “Don’t laugh! Help!” he called to his other friends, who were currently all laughing at the display.

Draco sneered playfully. “Why? It’s hilarious. Besides, not much we can do against Luna.”

“Yeah, you’re on your own, mate,” Ron told him unapologetically before turning back to the others. “So, who wants to play exploding snap?”

 

*******

 

“What the heck is that?” Draco asked Adrian, pointing at what looked like a giant framed X with multiple metal rings attached, listening intently as Adrian explained.

“Why are we here again?” Ron muttered.

“Because these are the things Adrian helps make for a living; appreciate the showroom tour,” Blaise said teasingly.

“Can’t we just get to the party part? It’s in the strip club we went for Bill’s bachelor party, right? That was fun.”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t mind leaving here, too,” Neville muttered. “I know it’s what he does for a living, and somehow makes the bank doing it, but it is somewhat awkward…”

“I wonder what the girls are doing,” Ron mused. “They got the tour of this earlier, right?”

“Yeah, and now they’re apparently going to some show somewhere,” Neville said. “Though they were quite vague on what the show actually was.”

“Well, you know Daphne,” Blaise chuckled.

Ron groaned. “Hermione and Ginny are there with her… it better not be too risque.”

“Luna helped her decide the place, and they’re going with some of Daphne’s co-workers from the club, too,” Blaise said. “I think it’s safe to say that it definitely will be ‘too risque,’ as you say. Though I’d argue that nothing is too risque…”

“Hey, I think Harry and Draco might actually be placing an order for something,” Neville observed.

Harry and Draco finished talking to Adrian, who had an amused expression, and then came over to them.

“So, what’d you order?” Blaise asked playfully.

Harry sighed. “Luna apparently tried to order us one of those large wheel things. We’d have nowhere to put it though.”

“N-not that we’d want it in the first place!” Draco quickly added, though his blush betrayed him.

“Bring it to Grimmauld Place,” Blaise suggested. “Perhaps Remus and Sirius could use it…”

“Actually, Adrian said we can just keep it here until we get our own place. Luna seems to have already paid and apparently adamantly insisted that we not return it.”

“Well, er, good luck with that then, mate,” Ron said skeptically, eyeing the thing.

“It looks like a torture device,” Neville commented, with a somewhat disturbed expression.

“It can be used for that too!” Adrian informed them happily. “Plenty of people get off on that! But you don’t have to use it to cause pain; you can merely chain your partner up and tickle them, without even spinning the wheel any, if you want-- that can be fun too. If you want a private session to learn how to use it, that can be arranged. In fact, it’s suggested, if you’ve never used such before...”

“Er. Maybe someday, but not right now,” Harry muttered, blushing vigorously.

Draco looked slightly faint. “Can we please just go to the stripclub now?”

 

*******

 

“So, Luna told us something quite interesting at the show last night,” Daphne purred surreptitiously to Harry and Draco after her and Adrian’s wedding ceremony and obligatory dances were completed.

“And, er, what was that?” Harry asked, trying to sound nonchalant. He and Draco didn’t need a disguise this time, as it was a much smaller affair and wasn’t being held where they were living.

“Well, she claims that you two and Krum had quite the night after Bill and Fleur’s wedding last week…”

The two blushed. “Did she now?” asked Draco, glaring at Luna, though she didn’t notice as she was spinning in circles on the dance floor.

“Mhmm. And Witch Weekly confirmed it this morning, too; I was reading it while my hair was being done-- which took a full hour to do, can you believe it? Anyway, they caught a picture of the four of you entering his hotel, clearly intending to do more than just hang out, with the way you were hanging all over him.”

Harry froze. “Witch Weekly confirmed it?” he asked faintly. “Wait, how did you know it was us? Did the article say?”

“Oh, please. I’ve seen you in muggle clothes before, Draco; though the hair color was surprising. Seemed no one else caught on though, as it said he was with two mysterious strangers. You look quite pretty as a girl, by the way, Harry. But I wouldn’t have given the photo a second glance, if it weren’t clearly Luna with you three, which the article was absolutely raving about, as she is the daughter of the Quibbler editor.”

“Mom reads Witch Weekly, you know,” Ginny leaned over to tell them. “She’s going to see the article too.”

“Fuck!” Draco called, loudly enough to garner a couple brief glances, and then put his head in his arms on the table.

“I can’t believe you actually shagged Krum,” Fred awed, with a hint of jealousy in his aura.

“So, how was it?” George asked. “You know, as a girl and all?”

“I am not discussing that with you,” Harry told him stubbornly.

“And Luna, too, huh?” Adrian asked. “That’s really unexpected.”

“Is it?” Daphne raised an eyebrow at her new husband. “Are we remembering our last year of Hogwarts differently?

“Er. She just wanted to watch, and didn’t take no for an answer,” Draco admitted.

“Well, mostly,” Harry added. “She did--”

“Could you please, for the thousandth time, not talk about this around me?” Ron asked, blushing deeply.

“Well, we can’t help that we’re particularly sexual beings.” Blaise stuck out his tongue at Ron.

“Yeah, it’s making me a little uncomfortable too,” Hermione admitted, “Especially since I, you know, dated Viktor. Come on, Ron, let’s go dance for a bit.” She grabbed Ron’s hand and dragged him to the dance floor.

“I think we should slip them some Aphrodite sometime,” Neville suggested. “Then maybe they’ll loosen up a bit.”

“Somehow, I doubt they’d agree to that,” Harry snickered.

“Well, didn’t say we had to tell them.”

“We are not administering drugs to anyone against their will,” Draco told him adamantly, then began laughing a bit. “Seriously, Neville, I’m quite surprised; just a few years ago, you were, to be frank, somewhat of a prude as well, blushing at everything, but now look at you!”

“What?” Neville blushed. “I was not! I was one of the first to realize Harry’s sexuality, before he even admitted it to himself!”

“That is true,” Harry mused. “Honestly, I think I was the most, as you put it, prude there. I had zero experience with anything, and was utterly in denial about liking blokes.”

“Which is definitely not the case now,” Daphne snickered. “What with last week…” Harry sighed. They weren’t going to let this rest, were they?

 

*******

 

When they returned to The Burrow the next day-- they’d been, as expected, too drunk to return safely, which they had warned a disproving Mrs. Weasley might happen-- Mrs. Weasley was waiting with a copy of Witch Weekly, as expected. Fred, George, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione quickly slipped away, leaving Harry and Draco alone with her and Mr. Weasley.

“Before you say anything, we are of age,” Harry reminded her.

“Luna isn’t.”

“Well, she didn’t actively participate, and she is 16, which is past the age of consent, anyway.” In the British wizarding world, the age of consent was two years before one turned of age, meaning 15.

“Yes, but what will her father think? That was completely irresponsible!”

“Er, well, from our understanding, she told her father right away, and he was quite happy about it; I wouldn’t be surprised to find the article hanging on their fridge...”

“W-well, even so!”

“Molly, they are of age,” Mr. Weasley told his wife. “It’s not like we weren’t doing that when we were young, too.”

Mrs. Weasley turned bright red. “Okay, fine, do what you want! But you at least used protection, right?”

Harry and Draco looked at each other, mortified. Were they really going to have this conversation with Mrs. Weasley?

“Er, well, we’re all blokes, and vampires are infertile anyway,” Draco muttered, as red as a beet.

“That’s not the only reason to use it!” Mrs. Weasley said, horrified. “Hasn’t anyone taught you that?”

“No,” the two said together. The Dursleys never had, Hogwarts didn’t have sex ed, and Draco came from a pure-blood family that expected waiting until marriage.

Mrs. Weasley sighed. “They really should offer this kind of thing at Hogwarts…”

“Wait,” Harry said. “We’re immune to all that, anyway, I think. And besides, that was the first time we did anything with a human!”

“Exactly,” Draco said. “Now, can we go?”

“Oh, no. There’s still more to the lecture… and we need to talk about your alcohol habits; you are way too comfortable with it despite only just being legally allowed to have anything stronger than butterbeer and mead…”

 

*******

 

“High five!” Sirius said as they walked into Grimmauld Place, and Draco and Harry obliged.

“What was that for?” Harry asked.

Sirius grinned mischievously. “I heard you two and Krum had some fun after the wedding, of course. That’s quite the catch!”

“H-how do you know that?” Harry stuttered out, blushing.

“Molly told me. Seems to think I can talk sense into you.” Sirius grinned. “I’m assuming she forgot that I was quite the scoundrel in school as well...”

 

*******

 

Harry and Draco collapsed on the bed in exasperation. 

Ginny, on the way to her room, leaned on the doorframe. “Long week, huh?” she asked. “Yeah, I get it. Tons of fun, definitely, but two weddings and their respective parties all at once? Phew! Plus all those lectures you got from mum… she can be pretty brutal, huh?”

“You got that right,” Draco sighed. “She lectured both us and Sirius earlier today… seems providing us with ‘supplies’ was not how she expected him to react to our escapade with Viktor.”

“Not sure how she expected him to act any differently, honestly,” Harry added. “It’s brutally obvious he’s pretty much still a teen himself.”

Ginny chuckled. “Well, it’s how he copes with a dozen years in Azkaban,” she pointed out. “After all, he missed out on his twenties completely, and he’s been in hiding since getting out; honestly I think he’s living vicariously through you.”

Harry grinned. “Yeah, I think that’s a pretty safe bet.”

“Better not slack off then, or he’ll be sad.” Ginny winked. “Goodnight, boys.” She left for her room, closing their door on the way.

“Music?” Harry asked Draco.

“Yes, Merlin, I need a break after that…” Their current exhausted state had come from more than just the week of weddings.

“Agreed… Next time Luna suggests we try flying on the star-winds, we’re telling her no…”

“Hmm. Yuggoth wasn’t that bad though, was it?”

“Are you suggesting we should have let the winds stop there?”

“Well, no, but it looked pretty neat.”

“True, but there’s the minor problem of it being inhabited by the mi-go.”

“Point… okay, music. What do you want to listen to?”

Harry told him, and they curled up together with the Walkman. Soon they began quietly singing along.

_“People talkin’ about us / They got nothin’ else to do / When it all comes down we will / Still come through / In the long run / Ooh, I want to tell you, it’s a long run…”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: A visit to the beach! (Or, one more fun summer chapter before they return to school.)
> 
>  
> 
> Song at the end is "The Long Run" by the Eagles.


	5. Fun on the Beach

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The obligatory beach chapter! Next up: hot springs! Just kidding; it's not an anime. Upon reviewing what I've written thus far, it seems this story starts out relatively light overall, then gets much darker later. A slow progression. I thought of adding something at the end of this, finding some horror underwater or something, but then I figured Harry needs to just catch a really nice break once in a while. So why not give him a nice summer?
> 
>  
> 
> I'm also going to post one or two more chapters today because I'm home sick again, bored, and don't feel like doing chores; lucky you!

“Wow! I’ve never been to the Ocean before!” Harry exclaimed. “Well, unless you count when we retrieved the locket.”

“Harry, we sail on the Dreamlands one all the time,” Draco pointed out.

"But that’s different. It’s all freshwater, and we sail over it. We’ve never actually swum in it or stopped on the beaches… the only sandy beach I’ve ever been on, actually, is the one in Michigan, which is a lake.” He wiggled his feet in the sand. “I’ve never been to one with saltwater before, and never just for fun. It smells nice.”

“Wait, you’ve never been to the Ocean just to relax and have fun?” Blaise asked, with a puzzled expression. “But you’re 17!”

“Er, well, the Dursleys always left me at Mrs. Figg’s whenever they went…”

“That’s barbaric!” Hermione exclaimed. “Come, you need the full experience! Sandcastles, shell collecting, beach volleyball, kite flying, swimming, buried in the sand… tonight, we’ll have a bonfire, too!”

“You brought a kite and beach ball?” Neville asked curiously.

“Of course! You can’t go to the beach without those! I also have shovels and buckets for the castle. You simply cannot go to the beach and not make a castle.”

“We have to go flying too!” Blaise reminded her. Those who had them had brought brooms. “We can play that volleyball thing on those!”

“Well, I don’t know if that would--”

“Yeah, that sounds fun!” Ron agreed.

“Er. Can we make the sandcastle first?” Harry suggested, with a slight blush. “I’ve always wanted to make one...”

It had been decided that a relaxing vacation day was needed, so Mr. and Mrs. Weasley insisted they go to the beach as they had not been in a while. Of course, the Weasleys and everyone staying at the Burrow as well as some friends were there. The only ones who couldn’t make it were Daphne, Adrian, Bill, and Fleur, who were all on their honeymoons, as well as Charlie, who had to go back to Romania-- Percy wasn’t there either, of course, but they didn’t talk about him. The beach they were at they had all to themselves, as it was one that was very difficult to get to without apparating, so even Sirius was able to join them-- currently, he was in his dog-form, jumping around excitedly while a bemused Lupin, Fred, and George played keep-away from him with a frisbee. Ginny and Dean had already gone off on a walk somewhere, while Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were setting up beach umbrellas and blankets; they had a large cooler as well, with an extension charm, providing all the drinks, sandwiches, and snacks the group could want. Luna had immediately run to the water, saying they needed seaweed for some reason no one paid attention to. As a result, Harry, Draco, Ron, Hermione, Blaise, and Neville were left to their own devices-- first priority being to build a sandcastle.

Turned out, the sandcastle ended up needing magic to complete, it was so tall! Until the frisbee veered off course with a gust of wind, and Sirius barrelled into the castle trying to catch it… he let out a dog-whine, and the group laughed as he tried to struggle out of the pile of sand.

Next, they went swimming. Harry dove under the water with glee-- it was so amazing! He could taste the salt. Salt was a taste he could still enjoy… though that might have something to do with it being a component of blood, now that he thought about it. He wondered if there was anything to hunt in the ocean around here. He’d been warned not to hunt cephalopods-- squid, octopus, etc.-- or crustaceans-- crabs, lobsters, etc.-- because their blood was copper-based rather than iron-based, which could be toxic to vampires. Essentially, if he bit into it and it had blue blood, it was a no-go. Were there large fish around here? It would be fun trying to catch a fish… he’d heard that sometimes there were smaller sharks, or even sometimes porpoises… Or maybe he could just catch a smaller fish; there were plenty around here. It was amazing; he could see quite clearly through the murky water, thanks to his vampire senses. He dove deeper, sliding his hand along the bottom, which was covered with various plants, stones, mollusks, and other beautiful things. Then, it began sloping at a much steeper angle… how far out had he gone? He narrowed his eyes. Was that a small shark out there? It was! Harry happily began swimming towards it;his fangs began to ache-- he and Draco hadn’t bothered with their retainers, as everyone there knew.

Harry’s heart skipped a beat as something grabbed his ankle; he spun around, tugging away, then calmed as he realized it was just Draco. A somewhat angry Draco, who grabbed Harry’s wrist and pulled him back towards the shallower areas. They emerged above the water, and Draco led him onto shore; a number of people were around, looking somewhat worried.

“You’re an idiot,” Draco told Harry bluntly. “Next time you decide to explore the ocean floor, please tell someone, so you don’t have them all thinking you drowned.”

“Er, sorry. I guess I got distracted; It was just so amazing, seeing all the fish and other life down there, and the multitude of plants on the seafloor! It was beautiful. And then there was this shark I saw, so began following--”

“Harry! You’re okay!” Sirius called, running up and giving him a hug.

“Yeah, of course, why wouldn’t I be?” Harry was highly confused.

“Well, mate, you kinda disappeared,” Ron told him. “We went to gather people to play that vole-ball game, and couldn’t find you anywhere. It was somewhat alarming. Mom panicked; thought you might have drowned, which only got worse when we realized the last we saw you was in the water.”

Harry laughed at that; it seemed many of them had forgotten a key factor of vampirism. “You do realize that I don’t need to breathe, right? Perk of being, well, you know.” He flashed his teeth.

“Did you say you saw a shark down there?” Lupin asked.

“Yeah, just one of those little ones… I was going to try to catch it, but someone prevented that!” Harry glared pointedly at Draco.

“Well, excuse me for trying to avert a huge panic!” Draco huffed.

“Hey, boys, no need to fight over this!” Sirius interjected. “Look, it was our mistake, getting worried like that. Just, tell us next time you decide to go somewhere no one else can reach, okay?”

“Yeah, okay,” Harry agreed. “Now, you said something about volleyball?”

“But weren’t you hunting a shark?” Luna said, seemingly worried. “You need something to eat, don’t you?”

“Er. Not really, Luna,” Harry assured her. “I only saw it, and figured maybe I’d try catching it for sport. I’m good on… food.”

“Oh! Hey, Draco, Harry, if we’re having a bonfire tonight, you should catch some fish for it!” Blaise chimed. “Imagine that? Fresh-caught fish roasted over the fire?”

“Maybe,” Draco said. “Do you think stunning charms work underwater, though? I don’t think our usual hunting method would do well for food others will eat…”

“Yeah, they work,” Harry assured his boyfriend. “Used them fourth year in the second task.”

“Well, then, sounds like we’ll be having fish for dinner! Brilliant!” Mr. Weasley concluded.

“After volleyball, though,” Harry asserted, heading towards Hermione, who was holding a giant multicolored beach-ball by a net that had been set up; that must be one seriously enlarged beach bag she had brought.

“Ah, yes!” Mr. Weasley’s eyes sparkled. “Now, what were the rules for this, what was it called, valley-ball?”

“Hold up a second,” Dean said. He and a bushing Ginny had returned from their walk during the conversation. “So, you really are vampires? Wow; I thought Ginny was joking!” 

Harry and Draco froze. They had completely forgotten that Dean didn’t know what they were. Well, hadn’t known until today, apparently. Harry glared at Ginny.

“What? Everyone else here knows, and you conveniently ‘forgot’ your retainers. He was going to notice eventually,” Ginny defended.

“Wait a second… does Krum know he shagged two vampires?” Dean asked curiously.

Harry and Draco looked at each other with slight unease. “Er, well, not exactly,” Harry muttered, at the same time Draco scoffed, “Does that really matter?” Then dashed off to the volleyball area before anything else could be asked.

After a while of volleyball, it was decided that they would try out playing it on brooms. Harry, though, did not get this opportunity; instead, Luna and Ginny dragged him away, into the dunes, giggling.

“Where are you bringing me, and why?” Harry wondered.

“We have something for you,” Luna told him, holding what appeared to be two thin pieces of emerald-green cloth to him.

“Put it on,” Ginny instructed. “It’ll look great; matches your eyes and collar!”

“Er. Hold on. Is this what I think it is? You honestly expect me to--”

“Well, you’ll naturally have to be in female form, first. And we’ll have to braid your hair again; long hair on the beach isn’t good.” Ginny and Luna both had their hair in braids as well, Harry noted.

“You’ll look beautiful,” Luna assured him. “But if you don’t put it on, I do have some nice photos I could show the others…”

“Okay, fine, I’ll put it on,” Harry quickly decided, before Luna could begin describing the photos aloud.

Meanwhile, on the beach, the volleyball players had all taken a break to grab water and snacks. 

“Hey, has anyone seen Harry?” Draco asked. “He better not have gone swimming without telling us, again…”

“Ginny’s missing too, come to think of it…” Dean noted.

“And Luna...” Hermione frowned. “You know, those two were really pressing Harry to come here in female form before we left today… you don’t think they’re-- Ron, what are you all gaping at?”

Fred and George whistled at the approaching figures, and Draco, Neville, Blaise, and Dean turned to stare wide-eyed as well. Luna and Ginny led a girl with a long black braid and emerald green eyes over to them-- her face and upper chest was a deep merlot color as she looked sheepishly down at the sand.

Hermione scurried over. “Harry, stand up straight,” she whispered, correcting her posture. “Hunching over like that is making your breasts practically spill out.” She helped Harry readjust the tiny string bikini.

“Er, sorry, Hermione. It’s just rather embarrassing…”

“Well, why in the world would you let them put that on you, then?”

“Luna blackmailed me,” Harry said miserably.

“Dean, you better be staring at me with that expression, not Harry!” Ginny scolded her boyfriend.

“Er, right, definitely staring at you, Gin, don’t worry,” Dean quickly told her. “But, who is that? You didn’t honestly bring a muggle girl here, did you? Or… hold on…” He glanced around. “Is that Harry? Did you have leftover polyjuice from the wedding or something?”

Harry sighed. “Well, no, not exactly,” he admitted. “A creature claiming to be a sex-god thing decided to give me the ability to change sex at will once he saw they dressed me in drag for the wedding-- polyjuice wouldn’t take-- and Ginny and Luna have been obsessing over it.” Technically the squid had given him the ability, but it was easier to just say Nyarlathotep decided such rather than explain everything.

“Well, you do make a wonderful girl,” Luna asserted, clearly appraising her body. The boys were still doing so, too, Harry noted with a blush.

“C-can you all stop staring, maybe?” Harry stammered. “I’m, er, not really used to having to tell people to keep their eyes on my face…”

“But you’re bloody hot!” Ron burst out, receiving a glare from Hermione that went unnoticed. “Seriously!”

“Yeah, you could have any straight bloke or gay girl you wanted, looking like that,” Blaise exclaimed. “Probably even straight girls and gay blokes as well!”

“Hey, watch what you’re saying!” Draco protested. “That’s my boyfriend-- er, girlfriend-- you’re talking shamelessly about!” 

“Harry, is that a bellybutton ring?” Hermione asked, pointing at the green jewel on the girl’s navel. “When did you get that done?”

“Oh, I put that in when she was changing! Which she needed quite a bit of help with,” Luna told them excitedly. “It’s an enchanted one that automatically molds into your skin. I found it in the Dreamlands.”

Harry froze. “Wait, you found this in the Dreamlands?” Harry repeated. “Where?”

“Oh, some temple… you know, I think Ginny and I will get ours pierced, too…”

Ginny sighed. “Luna, you can’t make those kinds of decisions for me… though I suppose it would look good.”

“Oh, but she can make them for me? And what temple? This isn’t some kind of odd magical one, is it?” Harry fiddled with the little curved barbell. “And how the hell do you get it off?!”

“Oh, I don’t think it comes off,” Luna stated casually.

“You don’t think it… why would you put it on me, then?!”

“Because it looks nice on you.”

“But-- oh! Lupin!” Harry dashed over to the four adults who had just returned from a walk. He pointed to the navel piercing. “Can you test this for curses or whatnot? Luna put it on me, and it doesn’t come off. She said she found it in a temple in the Dreamlands.”

Mrs. Weasley put her hands on her hips. “And just what do you think you’re wearing?” she scolded. “That is hardly appropriate attire for a young lady!”

“Er, well, Luna and Ginny insisted I wear it! And Luna’s wearing the same thing in yellow, anyway.”

“Well, I have no control over Luna, but you will not be dressed like that!” Mrs. Weasley took out her wand, turning the suit into a more modest two-piece with a half-halter top and regular bikini bottom-- the style Ginny was wearing, actually; Harry had a suspicion Mrs. Weasley might have similarly modified her suit. “There. Now at least you won’t accidentally flash anyone.”

“Thanks,” Harry told her. “That was somewhat embarrassing, actually; I can’t believe they forced that upon me…”

“Well, you let them,” Sirius pointed out, with a teasing smile and lilted voice. “It wouldn’t be that hard to fight them off.”

“Er. Well. Luna has blackmail,” Harry mumbled, eliciting laughs from the men but a frown from Mrs. Weasley. “So, er, Lupin, could you check this thing Luna put in me?”

“Of course, Harry.” Lupin used a few spells on the naval piercing, and then frowned. “Nothing particularly dark seems to be there, but it does seem to be similar materials and stone to the amulet, so quite possibly could contain some cosmic magic. Can you sense it?”

Harry concentrated. “Actually… yes, it does seem to have similar, if not the same, magic, though fainter. I’ll compare it to the amulet later, to be certain.”

“Come to think of it, why is Draco wearing the amulet now?” Sirius asked. “Before, you’d act like Gollum whenever anyone got near it.”

“Gollum?” Remus asked, while Mr. and Mrs. Weasley also gave him puzzled stares.

“...It’s from a muggle fantasy book,” Sirius muttered. “Sometimes I forget most wizards don’t read those.”

“Don’t worry, Sirius, I got the reference.” Harry smiled. “I used to sneak books into my cupboard as a kid, since Dudley never read any of the ones he got. Although, they took that set away before I could finish reading,” Harry said sadly.

“What? Took them away?” Sirius looked utterly appalled. “Well, I have a set you can borrow, if you want. Actually, I insist you do-- in fact, you all should read them, they’re utterly amazing. ‘Lord of the Rings’, it’s called.”

“We’ll keep that in mind,” Molly said, clearly not intending to.

“I’d love to read them!” Harry beamed, eyes sparkling.

“I have a set too,” Draco, who had arrived in the middle of the conversation on the book, informed them. “We read them in Muggle Studies, when looking at the ways muggles interpret magic.”

“Can it really be seen as magic, though, and used to study such?” Harry pondered. “It’s a fantasy world, up to the imagination of the author. Plenty of wizarding novels stretch and exaggerate how magic works. For better reference, you should study muggle pagan religions, as some actually do involve successful rituals and things.”

“Wait, what? There’s muggles who engage in actual magic?” Lupin asked, slightly concerned.

“Well, if they get ahold of magical items, then yes. Rituals are quite common among groups that do it, using crystals and such. Some objects can even amplify the miniscule amounts of internal magic muggles have, allowing them to use minor spells, even though they don’t have enough to use them normally. Actually, before wizards went into hiding, it was quite common for muggles to participate along with wizards in such, even though they don’t have enough internal magic they can use. Wizards would also frequently give muggles potions to cure them of common ailments. Although for some reason, the books outlining this were in the restricted section of the library…”

“So even Hogwarts’ Muggle Studies class is biased, censoring such information to make muggles look more ignorant than they are,” Draco said flatly. “Great.”

“Did you just say some muggles have magic?” Mr. Weasley asked in wonder.

“Well, yes, but like I said, usually not enough to actually do much,” Harry informed them, somewhat pleased that he knew something about wizards they didn’t, although slightly concerned as well; shouldn’t that be something wizards knew? “Didn’t you ever wonder why some muggles can sense things like dementors more easily than others, or even sometimes get through muggle-repelling wards or require stronger obliviation?”

“Come to think of it, there’s a lot of squibs who actually have tiny bits of magic still,” Mr. Weasley mused. “Looking at that, it really would be logical that there are muggles born with miniscule amounts, as well...”

“Hey, what are you all doing?” Blaise called, jogging up to them. “Draco, Sex-maiden, the sun is setting soon; go catch some fish before it gets dark! We’re going to start working on the bonfire now! Oh, and Harry? Might want to reapply the sunscreen charm; your skin is looking rather red.”

“Pretty sure that’s not due to the sun,” Harry muttered, trying to dissuade the blush that had come about due to being called ‘sex-maiden.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Return to Hogwarts! Which classes will they take? Who will be teaching DADA? There's more new staff members, too! Dumbledore also lays out some new rules that our protagonists do not enjoy.


	6. Returning to Hogwarts

“Finally heading back to Hogwarts,” Harry sighed, as he and his friends-- all the ones currently attending but Ginny and Dean, who were off on their own, probably snogging somewhere-- found a compartment on the train. “You know, I always used to absolutely delight in it, but now that I no longer live with the Dursleys, it’s a little bittersweet. That was one hell of a summer!”

“Completely agree!” Draco said. “Strip-clubs, hooking up with a celebrity, getting drunk multiple times, an awesome beach party…”

“Basically, every horny teenage boy’s dream summer,” Blaise teased.

“Dressing up Harry was delightful as well…” Luna stated dreamily.

“Er, yeah, can you not mention that to anyone else?” Harry blushed.

“Oh. But I have such cute photos…”

“Luna, if you show anyone those, I cannot guarantee you won’t get bitten,” Draco threatened.

“Oh, I wouldn’t mind that at all.”

“Okay, fine, then we won’t go to the Dreamlands with you anymore,” Draco amended.

Luna’s eyes widened and her lip quivered. “You really wouldn’t do that, would you?” she said in a small voice.

Harry cringed. No one could deny that look… even though there was a very good chance she was faking. “Okay, we won’t do that… just don’t show anyone else them, please.”

“Hey, do you have any idea who the new DADA teacher is this year?” Neville asked, changing the subject.

“Nope, not this time,” Harry told him. “Though I think Dumbledore’s been trying to get an Order Member, though no one really wanted to volunteer.”

“Yes, I wonder why that is,” Draco drawled sarcastically.

“Hey, isn’t there going to be a new Muggle Studies Professor, too?” Blaise asked, shifting over to make a spot as Ron and Hermione returned from Prefect duty. “Since last year’s disappeared again…”

“Er, yeah, there’s a new one,” Harry chuckled. “And you already know him.”

“Oh? Wait, it couldn’t be…”

“Yep, it’s my dad,” Ron muttered. “At least I don’t need to take the class…”

“Actually, I’m somewhat relieved that it’s him,” Draco said. “He’s been looking more into the history of muggle-magic relations, ever since that conversation on the beach, and plans to cover that some. We’ll hopefully be receiving more accurate information because of that.”

“Aren’t you somewhat overloading on classes, then?” Hermione asked curiously. “You and Harry are planning to take Firenze’s class, right? And Snape’s. Yet aren’t dropping Care of Magical Creatures.”

“Well, Snape’s is the same as we were doing in the evenings, anyway, so it’ll actually free us up a bit,” Harry pointed out. “Besides, you’re taking more classes without dropping others, too, and you had more than us!”

“Only Healing.”

“Right. So we have the same number of classes now.”

“Blaise and Draco have more, then,” Luna pointed out. “They each have nine, because they’re adding two.”

“What? Isn’t the limit eight?” Hermione said, scandalized.

“Shit,” Draco swore. “She’s right, Blaise; we’ll need to drop things.”

“What? Aww, man!” Blaise looked horrified. “Do you think an exception could be made?”

“We’ll have to ask Snape; I think I will be fine, as I don’t sleep thus can handle extra work, but you might need to drop something…”

“I am not dropping any of it,” Blaise said with finality, crossing his arms.

“Ron, are you adding any of the new classes?” Harry asked curiously.

“Nah.”

Hermione frowned. “If you still want to be an auror, Healing would be really useful, you know.”

“She’s right,” Harry piped up. “If you’re going to be an auror, knowing healing magic could be the difference between life and death in some situations.”

“Well, how about you? You keep getting attacked by You-Know-Who; shouldn’t you learn it too?”

“Harry and I have vampire healing magic,” Draco pointed out.

“Ah, right…”

“I’m taking Healing, too,” Neville told Ron.

“Okay, fine, I’ll take it. Just that one though; I’m not adding Nature Magic or Snape’s class.”

“And what about you, Luna?” 

“Oh, I signed up for Healing as well. I suppose that means we’ll all be in the same class, as we’ll all be intro-level. Ginny and Dean are taking it too.”

“They are? Ugh, they better not snog during it…” Ron grumbled.

“But that would be cute,” Luna protested.

“No, it--”

“So what other classes?” Neville interrupted. “You’re deciding NEWT tracks, after all.”

“Well, naturally Ginny and I are taking Defense, Transfiguration, Charms, and Herbology. Ginny decided against Potions because she dislikes Slughorn, but I’m still taking that. She’s also continuing with Arithmancy, but that’s it. I don’t know why she’s dropping Divination, Astronomy, History, and Care of Magical Creatures. I’m continuing all four, of course-- Hagrid even said I can move up a year, since I was helping you with most your things anyway! So I’ll be in your class. I’ll also be in your classes for Healing-- which Ginny is taking too-- Mind Magic, and Natural Magic!”

“Luna, that’s twelve classes,” Hermione pointed out. “Again, eight is the limit.”

“Oh no…” Luna looked devastated.

“I don’t think you need healing, Luna,” Blaise told her. “Everything seems to always miss you.”

“Oh… that’s true…” 

“Hey, Luna,” Draco interjected. “Let me test something for a minute-- I have a suspicion that you might not need Mind Magic. You can, er, see the creatures around people that correspond to emotions, which can be a substitute for some of it-- such as lie-detection-- and I have a slight suspicion your mind might already be blocked. Mind if I check?”

“Oh, okay, go ahead.”

“Okay…” Draco locked eyes with her and held out his wand. “Legilimens!” A second passed, and he was violently thrown against the seat back. “Yeah, you don’t need it,” he said in a daze, while everyone looked at her in wonder.

“That’s nine classes, then,” Blaise said, interrupting the silence, while Harry comforted Draco, who was still fairly out of it. “If you’re taking Natural Magic, do you need Astronomy? Firenze uses the stars quite a bit, right?”

“That is true… I suppose it will be best to drop that one, then,” Luna said somberly. 

“So that means you’ll need to drop one more.”

“Right… maybe Potions, then. Ginny isn’t taking it, so there will be no one to stop people putting things in my cauldron…”

“Er. So Ravenclaws and Gryffindors have that together in your year?” Ron piped up, diverting the awkwardness. “We always have it with Slytherins.”

“Usually, yes. One year it was with Hufflepuff, and that was not very fun,” she said sadly.

“I know how you feel,” Harry comforted her. “People used to put things in my potions, as well, until fifth year.”

“Mine too,” Neville added.

Blaise blushed deeply, and muttered an apology. Draco was still stunned.

“It’s fine; water under the bridge,” Harry dismissed. “We were stupid kids.”

A knock on the compartment door revealed a couple giggling girls, who handed out invitations to Neville, Harry, Hermione, Blaise, and even Draco and Luna…. from, of course, Slughorn, to have lunch with him again. Seemed like the Slug Club was starting up again.

“Wait, I got one, too?” Draco asked in awe, finally snapping out of the daze.

“So did I. I think he made a mistake,” Luna added.

“And of course, I’m the only one left out, again,” Ron muttered.

“Well, you can always go chat with Dean, as Ginny will be with us, too,” Blaise suggested.

“Yeah, guess I might as well.” Ron ambled off to find him while the others went to Slughorn’s compartment.

“So, why do Luna and I get invites this year, now?” Draco immediately demanded as they entered.

“Well, usually I wait at least a year before inviting students to join,” Slughorn said. “After all, talent needs to be evaluated! Last year, however, there was not much chance to evaluate… but watching you that past year, I must say, my boy, has caused you a sure place here! You are absolutely amazing at potions!”

“So, it has nothing to do with whom I’m dating?” Draco crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.

“Er, well, that might have come into play a little as well…”

“Hmph. As I thought. And what about Luna?”

“Well, she’s quite exceptional at some things, too…”

“You’re lying,” Luna stated. “You don’t believe that.”

“Er. What?”

“Luna can read auras,” Harry informed him. “You just want her because w-- she’s… close to Krum, don’t you?”

“Oh, come now, that isn’t the only reason…”

“Yes, it is,” Luna stated bluntly. “I will be leaving now.” She turned and opened the compartment door.”

Harry grabbed her wrist. “[Wait, Luna,]” he hissed in the dream-tongue. “[Remember how useful he was last year? It might be worth being on his good side.]”

“[I suppose that is true…]” Luna returned to the compartment and slid the door closed.

“My word! You speak Akkadian, as well?” Slughorn proclaimed. “My dear, that alone is enough to get you an invite here! And of course, reading auras is amazing, as well. I suppose you have seer blood in you? If I had known that last year…”

“Akkadian? No, this--”

“[It’s Akkadian,]” Harry told her. “[He doesn’t know about the Dreamlands. Stick with calling it this.]”

“Ah, right. That’s the English name for it, I forgot,” Luna flawlessly lied, to Harry’s surprise. He didn’t know Luna was capable of that, as she always seemed to blurt out the truth, at least as she believed it.

Slughorn clapped his hands once. “Well, sit down, sit down, we don’t have all day. Now, what has everyone been up to this summer…?”

 

*******

 

“Welcome to Hogwarts!” Declared Dumbledore, speaking to the Great Hall. “And for those returning, welcome back!” He seemed to have a prothstetic arm, though it looked quite realistic-- in fact, Harry and Draco, and possibly Luna, were probably the only ones who could recognize it was such. “Now, for some announcements! First, some school rules first-years need to know and some older students need reminding of.” Dumbledore, as usual, looked pointedly at Harry’s group, all whom were sitting together at the end of the Gryffindor table. “The Forbidden Forest is called ‘Forbidden’ for a reason; no student may enter it without explicit permission and an escourt from a professor. Similarly, it is not permitted for students to be outside the castle after dark, unless with permission. Also, underage drinking is expressly forbidden, and for those of age, it is to be done responsibly in private quarters-- if you are found wandering the halls in an inebriated state, there will be repercussions. Similarly, and I shouldn’t need to say this, illegal potions are not permitted anywhere on Hogwarts grounds. This includes ones such as Nyx, Aphrodite, Hermes, and the Lucid-Dreaming Draught. Those using will be accordingly reprimanded, and anyone caught selling them will be expelled and subject to a Ministry investigation.” He then began shifting his gaze towards other students. “Also, and I shouldn’t need to say this either, sexual relations should be conducted in private quarters and only amongst students who are at or above the legal age of consent, with express permission from both parties.” Harry raised his eyebrows in surprise; he wondered which students had made that rule require repeating. “And of course, as always, Filch would like me to remind you that there will be no hexing each other in the hallways, and a number of items, including Fanged Frisbees and anything from the shop Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes, are banned-- a full list is posted on the common room notice boards. Now, I am sorry for keeping you from the feast for so long, but there are some other announcements that must be given. First, we have some new professors to welcome! Would you three please stand?”

Harry smiled as Dumbledore introduced Kingsley-- well, Professor Shacklebolt-- as the new Defense professor, Mr. Weasley as the new Muggle Studies professor, and Madam Pomfrey as the Healing professor, available to 6th and 7th years. Then, he frowned. Someone was missing from the staff table.

“We also have a few staff members who have been shifted around this year, as well. Firenze and Trelawney will no longer be splitting Divination, rather, Trelawney will return to her original post of Divination instructor and Firenze will be teaching what is called Natural Magic, which includes learning about magical potential of various aspects of nature, such as weather, elements, fire, and celestial happenings. It is a fascinating subject, and available as an elective to 3rd year students and up. Now, if you recall, last year I announced there will also be a class called “Mind Magic,” for 6th and 7th years, which includes things such as occlumency, legilimency, and obliviation. Unfortunately, Professor Snape is away on unexpected business at the moment-- as there is no backup professor in place for the class, it shall be delayed until his return.” 

The hall broke out in whispers, and Harry and his friends gave each other worried looks. 

“Quiet down, now,” Dumbledore said calmly, and the students obliged. “You may chat about this in a moment. Before we begin the feast, I have one more announcement, which is in reference to a quite delicate and serious subject. In light of what occurred at the end of last year, we will have a Mind Healer available to any student who feels they need one,” he gestured to a middle-aged motherly-looking witch at the staff table, whom Harry was sure he recognized from somewhere; she stood as Dumbledore introduced her. “This is Healer Miriam Strout, who formerly cared for patients in the Janus-Thickey Ward at St. Mungo’s. She has previously worked there for over a decade, and I am happy to say she accepted my request that she help Hogwarts’ students in these trying times. She will also be aiding Madam Pomfrey in general.” Ah, that’s right-- she had been the one looking after Lockhart and the Longbottoms in fifth year. “Now,” Dumbledore announced loudly, “It is time for the feast!” With that, a large spread of food lined the tables.

“So, it seems they’re getting pretty serious about the potions,” Draco muttered to his friends quietly.

“I told you selling them was a bad idea!” Hermione hissed. “Using them was bad enough…”

“Well, I still have the muggle stuff,” Blaise said, unphased. “Those aren’t illegal in the wizarding world-- muggle things are always overlooked.” He chuckled a little.

“The Dreamlands have substances that aren’t in this world, too,” Luna mentioned. “I can try getting some, if you want. They have similar effects. We tried them a couple times.”

“Are they safe for humans, though?” Neville wondered.

Harry shrugged. “No idea.”

“Well, we’ll never know until we try,” Blaise decided.

“You’re not actually serious?” Dean asked faintly. He’d basically been adopted into their group now, as he knew all about Harry and Draco. Ginny had filled him in on the cosmic things, too.

“Serious about what?” Luna asked.

Dean looked around, then lowered his voice further. “You’re the ones running the drug ring?”

“Well, just me and Luna, really,” Blaise divulged. “The others are merely users, except Hermione and Ron, though we’ll get them someday. Although with Dumbledore taking such an adamant stance on it, we’re probably going to switch to only muggle drugs, now,” he said casually. “They have basically the same effects, though you do need to take the occasional healing potion for those you smoke, as they can damage your lungs.”

“Hey, you should probably change the topic now, looks like McGonagall is heading over here,” Ron warned.

“Potter, Malfoy, once dinner is over, I would like you to report to the hospital wing, please,” McGonagall told them in her no-nonsense manner, before strolling away.

Thus, once dinner ended and Dumbledore had dismissed them, Harry and Draco headed to the hospital wing, both very puzzled as to why they would be called there. McGonagall, Pomfrey, and Strout were waiting for them, and after a moment Dumbledore and Slughorn shuffled in behind them.

“Er. What is this about, sir?” Draco asked, grabbing Harry’s hand, who seemed quite nervous. He did not like being called here without knowing why.

McGonagall frowned. “Relax, Potter; you’re not in trouble or anything.

“Guilty conscious, eh?” Slughorn winked. 

Madam Pomfrey sighed. “Horace, that won’t help anything.”

“Well, considering I have no idea why I was called here, either--”

“You will soon,” Dumbledore promised. “Now, Harry, Draco, I apologize, but a certain aspect of your nature needs to be revealed in light of Snape’s current absence.”

Harry’s eyes widened. “Can’t we just brew the potion ourselves, Sir? We know how to!”

“No, I would much rather a Potions Master do it, just to be safe,” Dumbledore told them, “as it is a very complex potion which is volatile when brewed-- also, quite frankly, I’d rather you not brew without supervision anyway, as your potions ‘mishaps’ tend to result in highly dangerous and unprecedented results.”

Harry and Draco both cringed at that. ‘Mishaps,’ indeed-- they’d discovered adding their blood to potions, particularly Harry’s, could have astounding results that had resulted in the Ministry being called in a few times.

“Might I ask which potion you are referring to?” Slughorn asked. “As I assume I will be the Potions Master doing the brewing?”

Dumbledore nodded. “Of course. It is the blood-substitute potion.”

“Blood-substitute?” Slughorn looked puzzled. “But that’s meant for…” His eyes grew wide and he looked over at Harry and Draco, the former who appeared to be attempting to hide behind the latter.

“Yes, your conclusion is correct,” Dumbledore concurred. “Harry and Draco are not human.”

“When did this happen?” He asked, looking a little faint. “Have they been such the entire time I’ve known them?”

“Yes. Draco has been one since the summer before his fifth year, and Harry has been one since a couple months into the same year. Miriam,” He turned to Healer Strout. “I assume Poppy has filled you in on it all already?”

“Yes, she has,” the Healer said, looking over at the two boys with a kind look. “Although, I admit, I have worked with enough creatures to sense that something wasn’t quite human about them during our brief meeting that same year.”

“Ah, yes. Harry, Draco, Healer Strout has worked with many creatures in the past, which is reason I requested she be the Healer sent here. Before her work in the Janus-Thickey Ward, she worked in the creature-induced injury ward, helping those who were turned into creatures adjust to living as such. You also might find a certain kinship with her.”

“I thought something smelled strange about you!” Draco proclaimed.

Healer Strout smiled. “Ah, yes. I have been told such. Whereas it is far enough removed that I have nothing visible to show for it, my grandfather was a dryad. Apparently, my scent is reflective of that.”

“Hmm, makes sense. Your blood smells like an oak tree,” Harry told her, sniffing the air. He had grown more comfortable with the situation, knowing what she was.

The Healer chuckled. “I know you’re already well-adjusted to living with humans, but mentioning what blood smells or tastes like around humans tended to be the first thing I would tell freshly-turned vampires not to do.”

“But everyone here knows what we are, now,” Draco pointed out.

“Even so, it is a bad habit to get into, and something many humans find disturbing.”

Harry quickly apologized. “So, I’m assuming you’ll be the one talking to me instead of Madam Pomfrey?”

The Healer gave him a sad smile. “Yes. I hear that there is much going on in your lives that you’ve been struggling with, especially as you were at the center of both the Astronomy Tower battle and the Ministry battle the year before that. To think, children involved in such!” She shook her head. “No child should have to go through that.”

“We’re adults now,” Draco pointed out impatiently. “And why are you speaking in plural?”

McGonagall answered that one. “Because you’ll both be seeing Madam Strout, every Monday and Thursday, unless she decides you need it more than that.”

“But, I don’t need it at all!” Draco protested.

“Yeah,” Harry agreed. “He’s the one that saves me from things, not the one that needs help!”

“You will both attend, and that’s final,” Dumbledore told them. “Harry, your appointments will be at 4:30, and Draco, yours will be at 5:15. You are also to stay far enough away from the room that you cannot eavesdrop on the other, understand?”

“I understand,” Draco sighed.

“I need a drink,” Harry muttered, under his breath.

“What was that, Harry?” Dumbledore asked, frowning.

“One of our first topics of discussion, I think,” Madam Strout said, raising an eyebrow and smiling kindly at Harry. When he looked at her with surprise, she added, “I have slightly better hearing than humans, too. It’s barely notable, but good enough to hear people muttering under their breath.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Natural Magic, therapy, and what the hell is that book doing back?


	7. Fire, Therapy, and a Book

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "The place was dark and dusty and half-lost  
> In tangles of old alleys near the quays,  
> Reeking of strange things brought in from the seas,  
> And with queer curls of fog that west winds tossed.  
> Small lozenge panes, obscured by smoke and frost,  
> Just shewed the books, in piles like twisted trees,  
> Rotting from floor to roof—congeries  
> Of crumbling elder lore at little cost.
> 
> I entered, charmed, and from a cobwebbed heap  
> Took up the nearest tome and thumbed it through,  
> Trembling at curious words that seemed to keep  
> Some secret, monstrous if one only knew.  
> Then, looking for some seller old in craft,  
> I could find nothing but a voice that laughed."
> 
> \--H.P. Lovecraft, "Fungi From Yuggoth, I: The Book"

“Harry, what are you doing?” Dean asked, as he and Ginny entered the darkened lounge.

“Mmm, playing with fire,” Harry muttered absently, curled up in a corner of the couch, flicking the candles in front of him on and off, then making the bits of fire move off the wicks and spin around the room playfully, almost like will-o-wisps.

“I see that, but how?” Ginny whispered, her eyes following a bit of flame that played around her. “You’re not using your wand.”

“Not sure,” Harry admitted, seemingly unphased.

“Isn’t it lovely, though?” Luna asked them semi-consciously, playing with something in her hand, watching Harry with wide-eyes. She was on the couch as well, the only other one in the room. “Fire is enchanting…”

“Yeah, and bloody dangerous, too.” Dean cocked his head to the side. “Are you two okay? Something seems off.”

A chuckle emanated from the doorway. “Nah. They’re just high.” Blaise smiled as he casually leaned against the doorframe. “Take a whiff-- that smoke isn’t just from the candles.”

“Do you want some?” Luna asked, taking another drag from the joint, then holding it out to them.

“Well, don’t mind if I do,” Blaise drawled, leaning down to take a drag of it himself, with Luna still holding it.

“Blaise, we have Arithmancy soon,” Dean reminded him. “We’re only here because you forgot your book.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” He grabbed a book from the table.

“Oh! Speaking of books, it appeared here again,” Luna informed Blaise.

“It? What do you mean?”

“That one,” Harry clarified, gesturing to a sinister-looking book sitting on the loveseat.

“Oh no. No, No, NO. You have got to be joking.”

“Why would we be joking about that?” Luna questioned.

“Snape burned that thing!”

“Well, clearly he didn’t do a very good job at it,” Harry drawled.

“We have to tell someone! Get rid of it!”

“But why?” asked Harry, with an expression of disbelief. It was unclear if he was joking or not. “It’s such a beautiful book.”

“Well, If you recall,” Ginny said harshly, “when I became enamoured with an enchanted book, it nearly took my life!”

“We’re not enamoured with it,” Draco told her, rolling his eyes.

“Speak for yourself,” Luna muttered.

“That’s it, I’m telling Dumbledore about this.” Ginny turned to leave.

“You will not,” Harry said simply. “None of us will.”

Ginny swerved back around. “And why, pray tell, is that?”

“The book won’t allow it, of course.” Luna looked at her as if she’d sprouted a flower from her head.

“Okay, I’m a little freaked out by this,” Dean admitted. “Er. Let’s go, Blaise. Luna, Harry, don’t you have class, as well?”

“Can they really go while high like this, though?” Ginny asked worriedly.

“Oh, it’s fine, we have Firenze’s class, he won’t mind,” Luna chimed.

“Mhm. He’ll probably be happy our minds are more open,” Harry added.

 

*******

 

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Draco hissed, as he met Luna and Harry on the way to their Natural Magic class-- he had had Muggle Studies the previous period, which they had free. “The first class of the year, and you two are high. Can I not leave you alone for an hour?”

The three entered the forest-like classroom to a mix of sixth and seventh year students sitting against logs around a small fire, perhaps a dozen in total, a mix of houses-- not many NEWT students had decided to take the class, as had been expected, since starting a subject from scratch at this age was more or less something done for fun whereas most students preferred to focus only on the ones they’d be testing for. Comparatively, there had apparently been a large influx of third and fourth year students choosing the class, as well as a fair number of fifth years, enough to have the typical 2-classes-per-year; after all, they were starting soon enough that they could test for their OWLs in it, and even potentially NEWTs in terms of the third-years. Trelawney was in a bit of a scuff about that, as it meant less took her class, but the other elective professors were happy with having reduced class sizes.

“Ah, Luna, Harry, looks like you two got a head start,” Firenze mused, as they made to sit down. “Very good. Such substances will help you attune more with the magic of nature.” He gestured to a few joints being passed around by the class; Draco took two long drafts as soon as one got to him.

“I want to catch up to you two,” he muttered to Luna and Harry, receiving a giggle from the two.

A few more students trickled in, and then the lights dimmed, so the classroom was only lit by the fire. “Welcome, students! I, as you may know, am Firenze, and the class is called Natural Magic-- in other words, the magic found within nature. We will cover many aspects of such, including the magical properties of the stars, weather, stones, crystals, water, fire, earth, and basic ritual magic involving such. Today, we will be starting on fire; for those of you who took divination classes with me, the divination aspect of it will be review, but there will be a lot of new things, as well. First, we will try to connect with it; I want you to stare into the fire, feeling the energy it emits as the flames dance. Think of it as something that is alive, and feel the magic flowing through it…”

Harry felt it right away, how the fire danced and flowed. He wanted to make it dance like he did in their lounge, but managed to refrain himself.

After a while, when he seemed satisfied everyone felt at least something, Firenze handed everyone a little silver dish with small bits of kindling in it, instructing them to light it, which they all did with a quick “incendio.” Well, all but Harry; his just set fire on its own.

“Now, focus on the fire, try to find an image within it… no need for wands. Feel the magic, and guide the fire to take the shape you desire. Don’t force it; fire cannot be forced. Rather, coax it into what you wish to form, although you must listen to the fire’s desires as well. Don’t simply decide on a shape; feel the shape within the fire. It can be a simple sphere, or something more complex; most common are animals. Create whatever you feel within…”

Harry focused on the fire. What did he want it to become? No, he didn’t want it to become anything-- the fire did. Harry encouraged it to take the shape it desired...

“Harry Potter,” Firenze said in awe, watching as a small fire kitten danced around Harry. “You already have power over fire… I knew your skill with natural magic was already strong, but to think, it was to this point!”

“Er. I didn’t know it was to this point, either, actually,” Harry told the centaur, blushing.

“Oh, and Draco, Luna, you’ve both gotten it too! Very nice!” Firenze complimented. Theirs were more basic, and unmoving, but definite shapes nonetheless-- Draco’s a small bear, and Luna’s a heart… as in, a realistic heart, not symbolic one.

“Hold on, I think I can get it to beat,” Luna muttered, focusing intently… and then the fire heart began to beat.

“That’s honestly rather disturbing,” Draco told her.

“Well, then, onto the next thing! Only about half of you caught on so far, but don’t worry, you’ll have more practice at the end of class; there’s just one more thing I’d like you to try first: manipulating the smoke. You may use your wands to help if you so desire, but as wands are merely a tool to focus magic, I would prefer you try without. Natural magic works best if you use yourself as a catalyst rather than confining the magic to a wand. Typically I wouldn’t ask you to remove yourself from your crutch until a few years in, but as you are 6th and 7th years, I trust you are already experienced enough in magic to attempt it. There is no incantation; merely focus on the movement and flow of the smoke, directing it where you want, guiding it to the shapes you desire. Just like fire, smoke is a wild thing, a thing that you must guide rather than control. Oh, look, Harry already has it!”

“Er, what about me?” Harry asked, snapping out of his trance. He’d been absentmindedly playing with the smoke, enchanted by it, not paying one bit to the lecture.

The centaur instructed the rest of the class to start practicing, then trotted over to Harry, kneeling down and looking at him curiously. “You didn’t hear a word I said, did you? Well, you have achieved the goal of the lesson anyway, it seems. The fire speaks to you. I wonder, are there other elements you feel close to?”

“Er, well, not that I know of...” Harry said. “Wait, hold on, I don’t really want anyone to overhear this.” He cast a quick “muffliato” spell and then continued. “Actually, I can feel the flow of the forest. Does that count? Draco and Luna can too. But that’s because of what we are, right?”

“Hmm. The flow of life, you speak of, correct? That type of magic is more advanced than we will learn in this introductory class. However, you are correct, the ability to touch the surface of such a flow is intrinsic to your unique natures as creatures. Instinctual, you might say, as it is critical to how you hunt. Hmm. On the topic of instinctual... I wonder if perhaps the fire affinity is related to the cosmic magic that flows within you three, strongest in you, Harry.”

“Er. You know about that?”

“Yes, I can feel it. You’ve been granted special magic from the cosmic ones.”

“Well, granted isn’t exactly the correct word-- I got it when I, er, drank the blood of one. But Nyarlathotep is all for it, so things worked out.”

“Ah, yes. That would make sense…”

“Wait. You said all three of us have it. Does that mean I have it too?” Draco looked stunned. “How? Harry’s is due to drinking the blood, and Luna has some because she’s related to one, but I don’t have any reason to have it.”

“Hmm… you are Harry’s mate, correct? So I would assume you drink his blood from time to time, do you not?”

“Ah, yeah…” Draco blushed.

“It’s quite sexy,” Luna added.

“Luna!” Harry hissed, turning a vivid red as Draco’s blush grew darker.

“Well, there is no need to be embarrassed about such,” Firenze said. “Love is a beautiful thing.”

“That’s what I always tell them...” Luna smiled dreamily.

“S-so, I have some of the cosmic magic because I drink Harry’s blood?” Draco asked, trying to calm the blush. “Is that why I can see auras sometimes?”

“You’ve been seeing auras?” Harry asked curiously. “You never told me that!”

“Well, I wasn’t certain; they’re only small flashes, initially very rarely, but lately they’ve been getting somewhat more frequent. At first they didn’t even register, not really, then I thought maybe I was just imagining them based on what you’ve described…”

“That explains how you’ve done the forceful commands a few times,” Harry said, awed. “Also, why you felt the danger, too, that night on the tower…”

Draco gasped. “So that’s why Nyarlathotep had you give me the amulet! He sensed the magic… damn Outer God, think he could have told us that was why…”

Harry shrugged. “Well, at least we know now. Thank you for your help, Firenze.”

“It is my pleasure, of course, to teach one whom is blessed by the cosmos and its beings. You will do wonderful things, I am sure. The world is changing, and you are part of that. Though I am sure I will be long gone by the pinnacle, my future ancestors will be grateful.”

 

*******

 

“Iwanthumanblood,” Harry muttered quickly to Madam Strout, shaking with anxiety, during his first therapy session with her. She said he could admit anything, and she’d keep it a secret, but did that include this?

“Could you say that a bit clearer, my dear?”

Harry took a deep breath, then said as calmly as he could, “I… well, you know how I attacked a Death Eater at the battle last year with my fangs, killing her by draining a lot of her blood… well, now I’m, er...”

“Now you’re craving it, correct?” Madam Strout said in a very comforting manner.

“...yes,” Harry whispered. 

“Have you told this to anyone else? Draco, perchance?”

“Well, I did tell him, and Luna, about a week after the incident, but we assumed it would go away… then I still craved it a week later, but I drank some of Draco’s blood, and then felt a little better, so I’ve been doing that on occasion, but I think if I could get animal blood, too, it would help, since I felt better after eating some candy with it and some raw meat, but Dumbledore is absolutely adamant that I don’t have anything but the potion now, as he thinks that’ll phase out the cravings eventually, but they only get worse, so I’m terrified that as soon as someone near me bleeds, I’ll try to attack!” All this came out in a rush, and Harry was amazed that the Healer even understood any of it.

“Have you mentioned that to Dumbledore, then? Perhaps if you do, he’ll allow you to have animal blood again.”

“Well, no… but I know what he’ll say! He’ll be so disappointed… I don’t like disappointing him, I’ve already done it enough. He expects me to be this brave, perfect Gryffindor, and I feel like I’m the complete opposite. Maybe I was in my first few years here, but now I’m an utter mess. He knows this, too, I’m sure, but just ignores it even when I tell him. He says he trusts me, trusts my ability to control myself, but I don’t. And even if I can, it’s still painful, this craving for blood. The potion just doesn’t help enough.”

“Would you like me to talk to him, then? I can recommend he allow some animal blood in your diet. I am in agreement with you; from my experience, the potion alone is not a good long-term solution for most vampires, but animal blood in conjunction can help subside the craving enough for it to be hardly noticeable. You got used to doing such already, which is why it’s so tough to only use the potion now.”

“But even so, I already know he won’t; he was against it in the first place, and extremely disappointed to learn I was having animal blood.”

“Well, it’s worth trying to talk to him, is it not? Just say the word, and I will do so, but it is up to you ultimately.”

Harry was quiet for a while while Healer Strout waited patiently for his response. “...fine, whatever,” Harry eventually muttered. “Do what you want.”

 

*******

 

“Why the bloody hell is that book here again, and why are you three reading it?” Neville exclaimed upon entering the lounge to see Draco with a book in his lap, Luna and Harry curled against him on either side, reading with him.

Draco shrugged, without looking up. “It’s interesting, so why not?”

“Because it’s the darkest book in the history of dark books!”

Harry rolled his eyes, taking a swig of firewhiskey. “Relax, Neville. Draco and I can read it, somehow, so there’s no danger of Luna leaving things out this time if we try a spell.”

“Try a spell?! You do recall what it did to us last time, right?”

“Yeah, it took us to a temple worshippers of Yog-Sothoth created, though whatever is sealed there, it isn’t him.”

“We should look for him,” Luna mused. “He is the Gate, after all. Perhaps going there will offer a clue.”

“WHAT?” Neville splurted. “There’s no way you’re going to actually search for that place again! Besides, don’t you need a bunch of people? You can’t do the ritual with three.”

“Actually, one is enough,” Harry informed him. “But we’d go through the Dreamlands via my apparition, anyway, not with the ritual. I think I can get us there, maybe.”

“The hell you are!”

“The hell they are, what?” Asked Hermione from the doorway, arriving with Ron.

“They have the bloody Necronomicon again, and want to go back to that place!”

“That place? What place?” Ron asked, befuddled. 

Neville began to shudder. “D-don’t make me think about it!” He dashed out of the room.

Hermione and Ron turned back to the three on the couch, who seemed entirely unphased by Neville’s retreat, if they’d noticed at all. Harry was drawing some strange symbols in the air with fire, giving the two humans a sense of unease.

“Holy shit!” Blaise called, freezing as he entered the room. “What in Merlin are you doing?” He ran towards the fire shouting “aguamenti!”, which put it out and splashed over Harry.

Harry blinked, looked around. “Er. What’s going on? And why am I wet?”

“Why’d you stop?” whined Draco. Blaise shot him and Luna with the water-making spell as well, shocking them out of their daze.

“Shit!” Draco swore. “This bloody book!” He threw it to the ground.

“No! Don’t do that!” Luna called, jumping up and gathering the book, now closed, in her arms.

“Luna, you can’t keep the book,” Draco told her gently. “We need to burn it again.”

“But it’ll help us find Yog-Sothoth…”

“We can find him without the book,” Harry stated confidently.

“Or, we can not look for him at all,” Draco asserted. “Pretty sure the Gate is deadly, even for us. Luna, give us the book.”

“But… I want to finish reading it. It talks so much about the Old Ones and the many magical places they reside. Perhaps it’ll even lead us to Kadath, where Grandmother resides.”

“But we can’t read it without becoming enchanted,” Harry pointed out. “I think Draco is right: it’s too dangerous to risk. Here, give it to me, I’ll take it somewhere to get rid of it.”

“You’ll get rid of it, how?” Draco questioned. “All we need to do is burn it, which we can do right here.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Draco sighed. “You don’t actually want to get rid of it either, do you?”

“Not really.”

“Dammit, Harry, Luna! Why do I have to always be the responsible one?”

“You don’t have to be. You want to read the book, too,” Luna stated knowingly.

“Well, yes, I-- I mean, I don’t! Just, give it here!” Draco attempted to grab the book, but instead it was fumbled and fell open on the floor.

Harry picked it up, looking upon the page it fell on. “That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons even death may die,” he quoted.

“Meow!” Selardi came over and rubbed on Harry’s leg.

Harry looked down at the cat, wide-eyed, then back at the page, and dropped the book. Draco looked at Harry curiously, then down at the book, picking it up and staring at a drawing within it in wonder, then at his cat, then back at the book. Around the quote were many pictures of what were, as the book called them, “familiars of Death,” most of which were animals-- the one that had caught their eye, though, was of a pure-black cat with a touch of white tipping the tail and a white tuft of fur on the forehead shaped like a crescent moon. “It’s her,” Draco whispered.

“I knew there was something odd about that cat, especially when she came back to life!” Blaise accused.

“Does it matter, though?” asked Luna. “She clearly loves us all. She even saved Harry’s life.”

“No, it doesn’t matter,” Harry smiled kindly, then became a cat himself and started to rub on her face, which she returned happily.

“Oh! I want to play, too!” claimed Luna, changing to her animagus form-- a jackalope.

Draco shrugged. “Why not?” He placed the book on the table, still open, and became a cat as well.

Hermione peered down at the book, slightly curious herself, then blinked in shock. The page adjoining the quote and cat picture contained the symbol and ritual the three had used to become animagi. “I see they left a few details out,” she muttered, looking over at them, shaking her head in wonder and slight fear.

“Blimey,” Ron said, looking over her shoulder. “Those pictures… that can’t be what they actually did, is it?” he shivered and turned away. 

“I mean, all they said was they had to draw runes on themselves with a ‘special clay’, they never really specified what the clay contained, or that they had to use their mouths to transfer it from the… container, to the clay.”

“How can they even be okay with it, though? I want to throw up just looking at it.”

Blaise looked at the book as well, then an amused grin came over him. “You’re forgetting something vital about them: they’re vampires, ergo, drink blood all the time. Having to do so for some ritual isn’t going to phase them. Hell, I bet they even had trouble spitting it out, probably swallowed some by instinct.”

“I think I’m going to be sick,” Ron moaned.

Hermione frowned. “Okay, fine, those two I understand. But, Luna? How was she okay with doing that? She doesn’t strike me as the type...”

“Oh, don’t let her looks fool you,” Blaise said casually. “It’s always the ones you’d least expect that are the most sadistic…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Kingsley learns of their secret, and an unexpected tagalong to the Dreamlands!


	8. Kingsley Informed and the Icy Wasteland

“This is a time of war,” Kingsley told the class. “As such, I will be deviating from the so-called ‘approved Ministry curriculum’. Basic defensive magic is all well and good when all you need to do is escape, but if you find yourself in a real battle-- which, unfortunately, many of you already have-- defensive spells will not be enough. If you are actively being attacked and pursued, simple shield charms in hopes of escape will not work well. No, in those cases, you will need to defend yourself by taking down the enemy-- in other words, attack. I don’t mean simply tripping jinxes, either-- I want you to learn to go straight for stunning, straight for the things that will immobilize the enemy. I have worked as an auror for many years, and one of our mantras is ‘The best defense is a good offense.’ I am sure, being NEWT level, you already know many attacking spells; however, I want you to learn how to actually use them. To learn how to evaluate when it is necessary to do so, to know when a simple ‘expelliarmus’ will not work. Yes… FInnigan, correct?”

“Yes, sir. Why shouldn’t we use expelliarmus first, though? Didn’t Harry use it before when facing You-Know-Who? I mean, if they’re de-wanded--”

“I was an idiot,” Harry interjected. “The only reason I survived that was because our wands coincidentally shared cores from the same phoenix, and refused to properly attack the other. In any other circumstance, I’d be dead.”

“That is definitely not what you were saying teaching the DA fifth year,” Padma pointed out.

A dark look passed over Harry’s face. “Things changed. I was naiive, and now I know that.” He said no more.

Kingsley looked slightly disconcerted. “Well, then, as I was saying-- yes, Parkinson?”

“What do we do against things that some spells don’t affect? You know, half-breeds like that oaf Hagrid-- I saw spells bouncing off him last year…”

“First of all, ten points from Slytherin for using a slur, and another ten off for disrespecting a professor. As to your question, we will be studying that type of thing as well, recognizing what spells are best used against various types of creatures, and what to do when a spell unexpectedly bounces off.”

Pansy frowned slightly, and Harry noticed a spark of understanding fly from her. Had she glanced over slightly at Harry and Draco, as well? “But, if a spell bounces off, but the thing looks perfectly human, how will we know what it is?”

“Well, there are always ways around that-- if spells that directly affect the body don’t work, there are always ones that use things outside it, such as conjurment of rope bindings.”

“Yes, but how do we know what it is?”

“Well, you’ll need to examine it when it is caught, but unless you have auror training or similar, I do not recommend doing that. The creature could be as benign as a tree spirit, which is as harmless as a human and easily bound or knocked unconscious, or it could be as dangerous as a vampire, which can quickly escape the bindings and are very difficult to knock out.”

“So… there’s no way of knowing by which spells work, then?”

Kingsley seemed to be getting irritated with the barrage of questions. “Unless you try slinging twenty or so spells at it, including unforgivables, no. Now, back to business. First, the stunning spell. Many of you already…”

Harry clenched his fists tightly on the desk, making small indents in the wood. “She suspects us,” he hissed to Draco, under his breath.

“What? How could she possibly--”

“Fifth year. DA discovery. She tried attacking, and the spells bounced off; she had to use a tripping jinx or something to get us.”

“You think she remembers that?”

“What, are you daft? She’s the biggest gossip around; she remembers everything that isn’t schoolwork-related. I saw an aura of understanding right before she asked how to tell what it is, and I’m fairly sure she nearly glanced at us when asking it. She suspects. We’ll need to watch her.”

“Or just tell her,” Draco said thoughtfully. “And then threaten her.”

“We are not threatening people!”

“Relax, I was joking…”

“Although… perhaps we can make her forget about it,” Harry mused. “Like I did with Snape.”

“I don’t know; you haven’t practiced with that much. Might end up wiping everything.”

“Would that be so bad?”

Draco chuckled. “You have a point…”

“And just what is so funny back here,” Kingsley asked, walking over, “that it’s preventing you from paying attention? Everyone’s started practicing their spells; grab a cushion, and get to it. And ten points from both your houses.”

Draco and Harry looked at each other worriedly. “We’re actually attacking each other with it?” Harry asked tepidly.

“Yes. You need to know what it feels like, and how to recover quickly.”

Suddenly, Draco broke out into a coughing fit. Harry looked at him in surprise, then realized what he was doing. “Sir, I think he needs to see Madam Pomfrey. I’ll escourt him.” Without waiting for permission, Harry dragged Draco out of the room, possibly faster than he should have.

Kingsley followed, casting some sort of blocking charm in the hallway the two crashed into. “I know you’re faking it. Seriously, they aren’t very painful at all, just a quick sting and brief paralysis, and you’ll be learning the counter for it as well…”

“That’s not the prob--”

“We can already do them fine,” Draco interrupted Harry. “See? Stupefy!” He struck Kingsley with a stunning spell, and the two vampires took off.

“He’s going to kill you for that,” Harry muttered to Draco.

 

*******

 

Harry and Draco entered Dumbledore’s office sheepishly. Kingsley was waiting for them, along with Dumbledore and McGonagall.

“I take it you know why you are here?” McGonagall began. “Attacking a teacher is a serious offense!”

Draco looked away uncomfortably. “Sorry. I kinda… panicked.”

Kingsley sighed. “Look, I’m not going to press for detention or anything; twenty points will be deducted though.”

“Not a great day for Slytherin, between you and Pansy,” Harry snickered to Draco.

“Shut up, you lost points too.”

“And another twenty, each, for cutting class,” McGonagall added.

“Er. So we’re only here for point deductions, then?” Harry asked. “Can we go now?”

“No, Harry,” Dumbledore told him gently. “I’ve decided that you must tell Kingsley here about what you are, so as to avoid potential problems in class when practicing spells, like today.”

No one said a word, Dumbledore and McGonagall with patient expressions and Kingsley with a mildly confused, yet controlled, one. Harry and Draco shifted uncomfortably.

“Well, we don’t have all day,” Dumbledore said after a few minutes.

“You really want us to be the ones to tell him?” Draco asked miserably.

“Yes.”

Harry smiled slightly at Draco. “Just say it, or try for a scare?” he whispered, audible only to Draco.

“He’s a highly trained auror; I feel like he won’t react with anything other than drawing a wand.”

“I suppose you have a point…”

“Draco. Harry. It is impolite to hold secret conversations in front of others.” Dumbledore told them calmly.

“Okay, fine,” Harry huffed, pulling off the retainer. “We’re vampires. See?” He bared his fangs.

Kingsley looked at him in mild surprise, yet kept a calm demeanor. His aura showed surprise, but no fear. “I see. No wonder you didn’t want to practice stunning spells in class, as they’d bounce off, causing suspicion… I take it few know this?”

“You take it correctly,” Draco acknowledged. “Only our close friends, the Dark Lord, and those necessary-- Like Snape, who brews our potion-- need to know…”

“You-Know-Who knows?” Kingsley raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah… he found out during the Ministry battle when I, er, got angry and attacked that creature with my fangs rather than wand…” Harry admitted.

“Then why doesn’t the Order know?” Kingsley directed the question at Dumbledore. “Certainly it’s necessary for them, no?”

Dumbledore sighed. “I would say so, but that is largely up to them, ultimately, and Harry in particular is reluctant to tell people… most those who know, including their friends, found out by accident.”

“Oh, speaking of that, did Healer Strout talk to you yet?” Harry asked, a tiny bit hopeful.

Dumbledore sighed. “Yes, she did. And I must unfortunately decline her suggestion. Potion only, and that’s my final decision.”

“But, Sir…”

A few red sparks-- anger-- flew from Dumbledore, though his outer appearance stayed calm. “Do not try to argue, Harry: my decision won’t change. You’ll endure it.”

Harry narrowed his eyes. “I don’t think you’re fully understanding the situation, Professor.”

“Oh, I believe I understand the situation just fine. You’re merely suffering from self-doubt; but don’t worry, I know you’ll be fine in the end. You’ve always been strong.”

“Oh, I’ve always been strong, am I?” Harry hissed. “Well then, why do I have these?” He pulled up his robe sleeve, revealing the scars that led to his turning. “Why am I a vampire, then?”

Dumbledore looked slightly disturbed at that. “Harry, I didn’t mean--”

“Oh, I know what you mean. You have this unyielding image of me being this pure-hearted savior, but, as I’ve told you before, that is far from the truth. Or did all the trouble I’ve been in not alert you to that? Did you happily overlook things, tell yourself they were one-off incidents?”

“Harry, I--”

“I don’t want to hear it. Come on, Draco, let’s go.” Harry grabbed Draco’s hand.

“But, we have classes…” Draco protested.

“Screw classes.” Harry took a deep breath, calming himself to prevent the hold Nyarlathotep had placed on using his apparition in a high-emotion state, spun in pace, and the two vampires vanished… at the same time as someone grabbed Harry’s arm.

 

*******

 

“The hell?!” Harry burst. “How? How did you manage to side-along here?!” Harry growled at Dumbledore, who was on his knees, as though he were in pain. “You’re fully human; I can sense it. Trying to take humans with me can kill them! Yet you’re here.”

“Harry,” Draco said, placing his hand on the small of his back and rubbing circles on it. “Please, calm down. Anger won’t help right now. He’s in pain, can’t you see?”

Harry looked at Draco, anger dissipating as he saw the intense worry in his boyfriend’s state, then looked around. “Er. Where are we?”

Draco swore, looking around. “And this is why you’re not supposed to apparate here when in an agitated mindstate!”

“Well, it can’t be too bad, can it? I don’t sense any danger around.”

“For us? No. But Dumbledore can’t very well survive on an icy desert, can he? Look, he’s shivering.”

Harry looked over at Dumbledore, who had managed to stand, but was clearly very uncomfortable in the cold. Harry let out a surprised gasp-- he felt a small shiver, himself, from the cold, meaning it must be absolutely frigid on the seemingly endless expanse of ice.

“It’s okay, boys,” Dumbledore said, pulling out his new oak wand-- his previous one had been eaten. “A quick warming charm will do the trick…” He waved his wand, then frowned, shivering more. “Hmm. That’s odd.”

“Oh, right, Earth’s magic doesn’t work here,” Harry recalled.

“What do we do, then?” Draco asked. “You don’t think you can apparate us to another area of the Dreamlands, can you?”

Harry shook his head. “No, sorry.”

“Th-this is th-the Dr-dream-m-lands-s?” Dumbledore stuttered through his shivering.

“Part of it, yes,” Harry admitted. “But, I’ve never been to this area before… my apparition here can take us to random places if I’m not fully focused, which I suppose I wasn’t.”

“You think?” Draco drawled.

“Shut up.” Harry waved his hand in an annoyed gesture, and a spurt of fire shot out. Harry froze in surprise, blinking a few times. “Did I just…”

“Yes! You did!” Draco cheered. “Natural magic must work here! Firenze did say it worked differently than traditional magic... Hurry, get the fire around Dumbledore, it looks like he’s barely awake enough to stay standing…”

Harry focused, and created a ring of fire that swirled around Dumbledore, warming him.

“Thank you, Harry,” Dumbledore whispered, once he had warmed enough to speak coherently. They had begun walking towards what they hoped was the shore. If there was a pier, the White Ship could be summoned, and take them home.

“Ice spiders!” Draco called urgently. “Run!”

Harry glanced back. Indeed, there were giant spiders that seemed to be made of ice, with icicle spikes on their backs. He began to run, then realized Dumbledore couldn’t move as fast-- he would be caught! Harry doubled back and grabbed the old wizard, carrying him on his back while they ran at a speed humans could barely maintain.

Somehow, after what seemed like both minutes yet hours of running, they managed to reach the shore. They stood at a pier, and Harry created a wall of flame to hold the spiders back. He was clearly straining himself, though; Draco joined him, trying to pull some magic of his own out, and succeeding, but compared to Harry’s inferno it wasn’t really enough to help. 

Finally, the White Ship arrived. After a long argument with the ship’s imitated captain, Draco managed to convince the ship to take Dumbledore with him, despite him being human, but only if they returned straight to Hogwarts.

Upon boarding the ship, Harry immediately collapsed on the deck, clutching his abdomen pain.

“What’s wrong, Harry?!” Draco called, dashing to his side and helping him sit up.

“I’m… fine… I think… I just… used too much… power… the piercing hurts…”

“Come to think of it, the amulet did burn a little, when I tried using the fire magic too, and you used a lot more; our fire must be party cosmic magic, not just natural magic... let’s take a look.” Draco pulled Harry’s shirt up a bit, and gasped. It was already healing, but the entire area around his navel was covered with a bright red burn.”

Harry winced, and leaned into Draco, who nuzzled into his hair a little. “My magic... already felt somewhat strained... from apparating a human here... it’s no wonder I feel... so drained now... no wonder why... the piercing burned so much... trying to strengthen it...”

“Shh. Don’t talk, Harry. Harry? Oh, come on, don’t pass out on me…”

“Mm not pass ow…” Harry muttered, eyes closed.

Dumbledore merely watched the scene, silently observing. He had a feeling it was not his place to intervene.

“Yes, you would be correct about such,” a voice answered, that seemed both loud and soft, in his mind. 

Dumbledore looked around in surprise, trying to find the source of the voice.

A strange creature of pure black appeared, looking like a tall human but with four tentacles instead of legs and one tentacle for each arm. There was no face-- it was entirely black, as though made of shadow. Dumbledore’s eyes widened and he quivered in fear.

Draco rolled his eyes. “Nyarlathotep, stop scaring the Headmaster.”

“Oh? You dare to command me, my pet?”

“Er… no?”

Nyarlathotep chuckled. “I jest, of course. Perhaps a more friendly form, then…” Nyarlathotep changed into the female Healer form he had been in so long ago, when first telling Harry of his new cosmic magic. However, this time, rather than a Healer’s uniform, she was wearing a sleeveless toga-like tunic, showing off her two arm-tentacles perfectly. Her eyes were pure black and sparkled with what appeared to be the galaxy within, and her mouth stretched into a crooked grin much too big for her face.

“That one isn’t exactly more friendly,” Harry croaked, trying to stand up.

“Harry, don’t!” Draco scolded. “You need to rest.”

“Well, that’s what you get for bringing a human here,” Nyarlathotep’s personality had changed entirely, voice almost singing yet cackling at the same time. “I mean, I did warn you, but you are absolutely horrible at paying attention!”

“I didn’t do it on purpose…” Harry whispered.

“Yes, it is my fault,” Dumbledore said, collecting himself. “I grabbed his arm, thinking he only intended to run out the door, not apparate here.”

Nyarlathotep looked at Dumbledore with a bored expression. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. Hey, Harry, how’s that new piercing working for you? Brilliant, huh? A perfect replacement for the amulet! Though you really strained it today.”

“Wait, how did you know Luna would put it on me? Did you give it to her? Instruct her to?” Harry was regaining strength fairly quickly, enough to stand; he suspected the Outer God was aiding in this.

“Oh, I might have directed her to the place to get it, but she’s the one who decided to pursue the word of a mysterious old gypsy… I knew when she found it, she’d find it perfect for you, as she’s just so delighted to play around with your female form!”

Harry blushed. “Don’t make it sound so perverted.”

“Aww, but where’s the fun it that, hm?” Nyarlathotep teased, gliding over and putting a tentacle gently under Harry’s chin. “Your female form is beautiful, you know. You ought to reside in it more often; you did so frequently in the summer, but since returning to the castle, you haven’t at all, have you?”

“If I use that form in the castle, people will figure it out, and then I wouldn’t be able to use it to hide from people in public.” Harry was distinctly aware that Nyarlathotep’s other tentacle was now around his waist.

“Well, the least you can do is be in it here.” Nyarlathotep grinned mischievously, then suddenly Harry was female. He stepped back to admire the girl.

“Hey! What the bloody hell! I can’t change back!” Harry protested. “And why the hell am I in a bikini again?! We’re still sailing among ice drifts!”

“Oh, please. The cold doesn’t affect you like that, you know that.”

“Change. Me. Back,” Harry growled, flashing her fangs.

“Ooooh, so scary. But don’t forget; I have you collared… Now, it’s been fun, but I must leave...”

“Wait, why did you show up in the first place?” Draco asked. “Surely it wasn’t just to play around.” 

“Oh, right. I did want to tell you something,” Nyarlathotep said in a bored manner, as though it were an afterthought. “Old bearded guy, stop trying to make my children starve. You won’t like it if you continue doing such.” With that, the Outer God vanished in a swirl of darkness.

“Hey, wait!” Harry called fruitlessly. “Change me back!!”

A suggestive photograph merely appeared in front of them, conjured by the White Ship, of the earlier instant where Nyarlathotep had wrapped her tentacle around a blushing female Harry in a bikini, along with a modest pair of female robes, if you took a liberal definition of the word ‘modest’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Return from Dreamlands, Transfiguration class learns of animagii, fooling around, and Care of Magical Creatures class unvels a new ability--for Draco.


	9. Dark Rituals and Panties

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A very humorous chapter. Be prepared: it is the last for a while.

“Well, then, I suppose you two ought to get to class,” Dumbledore suggested, once overcoming his utter shock over the fact that, when the White Ship dropped them off at the Hogwarts Lake, less than an hour had passed since leaving despite spending more than a full day at sea. Or had it been? He found the memories to be getting awfully fuzzy quite quickly.

“I’m not going to classes until I’m able to change back,” Harry huffed, storming off towards the dungeons.

Draco sighed. “I’ll talk some sense into him-- er, her. We’ll call it a potions accident or something.”

“Yes, and I’ll confirm it.” Dumbledore frowned. 

“Something wrong, professor? You have wr-- er, I mean you seem a tad confused.” Draco hoped Dumbledore didn’t catch that he was going to say ‘wrackspurts’-- who knew what he’d do upon learning Draco had been gaining cosmic magic, too, however small it was compared to Harry’s. Then again, Draco had used a little fire, as well-- had Dumbledore noticed that?

“It seems I do not recall much about where we just were, rather merely vague flashes of memory.”

“Well, what do you recall, then?”

“It’s fuzzy, but we were on an icy expanse, correct? Then, there was fire? Did someone cast it? They must have, as the fire was fending off spiders, I think. Then we were on a ship. There’s flashes of a strange being-- Nyarlathotep, perhaps?-- and it changed Harry into the female form-- I recall that distinctly; Harry was not pleased with the attire. Though I cannot recall what was being said at all; it’s as though it were in another language…”

Draco nodded. “Humans tend to have difficulty remembering the Dreamlands the first few times,” he explained. “As well as the dream-language that is instinctually spoken there.” 

Hermione had forgotten her excursion into the Dreamlands fairly quickly when she had gone, too, only recalling vague flashes and the knowledge of what they were. Dumbledore seemed to be experiencing the same thing. As far as Draco could tell, he has forgotten that regular magic couldn’t be used there, assuming the fire was from a wand, meaning Draco’s secret was safe, and had no idea that Harry’s female form was something he could usually change to at will. Draco recalled how he had once spoken to a man called Kuranes, whom had decided to stay in the Dreamlands after visiting them many times; he had been quite surprised that the three had been recalling the place so well from their first visit-- he had had trouble recalling his first few adventures there, though the more he went there the more he remembered, and as far as he knew the same was true for most humans, as he had met others whom had visited multiple times yet had even forgotten meeting him previously… but Draco, Harry, and Luna weren’t fully human, after all, even possessing some cosmic magic, which most likely was the reason they remembered it so well since the very first time.

“I see…” Dumbledore mused. “Hmm. Did anything happen there that I am forgetting? I have a nagging feeling there is…”

“No, you seem to have gotten the gist of it all.” It wasn’t technically a lie. “Er. I need to find Harry and get to class now.”

“Ah, yes. Please do so.”

It took a while, but eventually, Draco was able to convince Harry of going to class, and they headed to Transfiguration-- luckily, it hadn’t begun yet.

They entered the room to many stares and a few whistles, along with whispers about who the new student was and why she was with Draco. Harry blushed vigorously at this. Apparently, his female form was extremely sexy-- even Draco had admitted he was attracted, despite having never been interested in any other female ever, as he had made sure to make clear. Harry was somewhat overwhelmed by the attention.

“Hey, so, this is Harry,” Draco told the class loudly. “There was a potions accident; it should wear off soon, hopefully, but she’s still mine, thus off limits!” This only caused more blushing from Harry, and some laughter among the disappointed sighs of many of the students, male and female.

“‘Potions accident,’ huh?” Hermione whispered to them as the two took their seats next to her, Ron, Blaise, and Dean.

“If you count Nyarlathotep as a potion,” Harry muttered.

Blaise raised his eyebrows. “Does this have anything to do with running out on Defense class?”

“Kinda. I’ll tell you all later; it’s a long story.”

“Settle down, settle down!” McGonagall called from the front of the room, silencing the class. “Before we get to class, if I find anyone staring at Miss Potter as lecherously as some of you did when she entered the room, five points will be taken per instance. Now, onto today’s topic: Animagi. We will only look at the theory; if anyone honestly wants to become one, I offer help with doing so over the summers for Hogwarts graduates. Whether you learn it from me or not, I implore you to only use the method we learn here. I would also like you to promise me that you will only attempt it with supervision, whether from me or someone else certified in its instruction, as it is a safety issue-- it can be very dangerous if the transformation goes wrong or if you end up as an animal whose instincts prove difficult to control, the latter tending to be the larger risk, to both the animagus and those surrounding them.” She seemed to look pointedly at Harry while saying this. “Yes, Miss Patil?”

“You said to ‘only use the method we learn here’. Does that mean there are other methods?”

“Yes, but we will not look at those.”

“But, why not? Isn’t it good to have options, if one doesn’t work?” 

“Because they involve things a respectable human being should not engage in. If you wish to research further, there might be some books in the restricted section which include the methods, though chances are such books will not be permitted at Hogwarts. That alone should be enough to deter you from researching them.”

“But what can be so bad about them?” Pansy wondered.

“If you want, I know of one,” Blaise sneered. “Though I bet you’re too much of a ‘pansy’ to stomach it.”

“What! I’m not a-- well. Anyway, I can handle whatever it is! Tell me!”

“She’s so annoying,” Neville said under his breath to Harry and Draco, who snickered.

“Well, if you must know, the Necronomicon has a ritual for it.” When Draco and Harry glared at him menacingly, Blaise added, “Or so I’ve heard.”

Pansy’s eyes widened. “Oh. Nevermind then.”

McGonagall narrowed her eyes at them, a frown forming on her face. “Blaise, Harry, Draco, see me after class. And I do not want anyone else looking into that or other methods,” she added, before continuing with the lesson.

Blaise felt very uncomfortable the rest of the lesson, as Harry and Draco were making it a point to stare at him as though he were a piece of meat to feast on later, though by the end they were having trouble keeping it up, nearly laughing.

“Sorry, guess I took it too far,” Blaise muttered, as they followed McGonagall into her office.

McGonagall got straight to the point. “I suspected, but you did not use the typical mandrake-leaf method, did you?” It wasn’t a question; she knew they hadn’t.

“Hey, I didn’t do it, just they did!” Blaise defended. “Seriously; that ritual is not fit for humans at all, unless you are extremely depraved.” He received an elbow in the side from Draco for this.

McGonagall raised her eyebrows. “Depraved?” Her demeanor was calm, but the aura showed a bit of worry and anxiety, no doubt wondering exactly what they had done.

“It involved drinking the blood of animals,” Harry admitted, then shrugged. “Which, you know, we do anyway, being vampires.”

“As well as carving symbols into yourself,” Draco added. “Which again, no problem for us, but could be an issue for a human.” He pulled his robes down enough to show the brand. “See?”

McGonagall looked closely at the mark. “I’ve never seen such before… where did you find this ritual? It was not as Blaise said, was it?”

“Er, well, someone told us about it, at first,” Harry said. “But later on, after we’d done it, we did learn it was also in, er, that forbidden book… but, we’re fine after it all, so it’s all good! Also, Dumbledore knows about us using a ritual for it!”

McGonagall raised an eyebrow. “Does Dumbledore know where this ritual is from?”

“No, but he doesn’t need to know,” Draco asserted, attempting to put power in his words. “You won’t tell him.”

“No, of course I won’t. He doesn’t need to know.” McGonagall sighed. “Just, please be careful in the future. Rituals can be dangerous; consider yourself lucky that this time, though the ritual itself is disturbing, it didn’t have consequences to it. I cannot press this enough. Next time someone tells you of a ritual, ask where they learned it from, and never follow any from a dark book. Understand?”

“Actually, it’s not--” Harry was silenced by Draco’s hand on her mouth, and she gave her boyfriend a glare.

“Yes, we understand,” Draco told the professor.

One they were out the door, Harry turned to Draco, annoyed. “It’s not a dark book, you know. I was going to tell her that.”

“Most humans see cosmic magic and the beings that use it as the darkest of dark things, unaware of the distinction. Why do you think Dumbledore’s trying to discourage us from interacting with them and using the abilities we got from such?”

“He’s been getting better about it, though. He’s been okay with the fire abilities and whatnot.”

“Because he thinks that is an affinity for natural magic, which it partially is. It just happens to come much easier because of the cosmic energy amplifying it. He’s still been trying to discourage what he thinks are purely cosmic things, like using the dream-tongue and influencing people, and interacting with the Outer Gods and Old Ones.”

“Oh, that makes sense… But, it’s not dark, not like he thinks. Not like the unforgivables or horcruxes. Why can’t he seem to understand that?” Harry clenched her teeth in frustration. “And why can’t he understand that we need more than just the potion? The Healer talked to him! She told him it’d be best to let us drink from animals to supplement the potion!”

Draco shrugged. “Some humans are just stubborn, and he is definitely one of them. Now, come on, let’s go to the lounge; I could definitely use a drink, after this day… Actually, no, let’s hunt; I want blood, now that you’ve mentioned it.”

“Er. We still have Potions class.”

“Screw Potions.”

 

*******

 

“Can you get me through these changes? / Well I sure don’t know about life / But one thing for sure all I need is you babe / We got to get the golden key to unlock the door…”

Harry lay cuddled up to Draco as they listened to music. Their friends had come to find them after seeing they’d skipped Potions, and they’d decided to skip dinner, opting to have a small party in the lounge instead, getting food from the house elves, remains of which lay around the room. It was a couple hours past midnight now, and all their friends had returned to their respective dorms. 

When the song ended, Harry clicked off the Walkman and sat up, a sly grin forming. “So, I believe you promised something before…”

Draco frowned. “Promised? What did I promise?”

“That if I went to class, you’d … do a certain thing with me.” Harry’s hand slid slowly down Draco’s side, causing a slight flush and whimper to spread over the blonde’s face.

“A certain thing, hm? Remind me what that was again?”

Harry grinned. “You know.” One hand rested on the slowly growing bulge in Draco’s trousers, while the other tangled in his hair, quickly pulling his head back to expose the side of his neck, which Harry’s fangs violently drove into, causing Draco to gasp in surprise, then began sucking hard on the wound, carelessly letting blood drip down his boyfriend’s chest.

“Harry... you’re getting blood... all over my robes...” Draco softly panted. “At least… remove them first…”

Harry tore Draco’s robes and shirt off, tossing the shredded fabric aside.

“Hey! I just had those repaired! The tailor is going to-- ah--” Draco moaned into Harry’s mouth as lips were passionately pressed into his and a hand squeezed the massive bulge in his trousers.

Harry broke the kiss with Draco, but stayed close, whispering in his ear. “Now, what was that you promised?”

“Hmm… what are you talking about again?”

“You know what.” Harry blushed deeply.

Draco’s mouth contorted into a playful smile, and his eyes seemed to glitter, a reflection of the sparkles of playful amusement filling his aura. “Tell me anyway. What you want?”

Harry nuzzled into Draco’s still-bloody neck. “You know what I want…”

“I want to hear you say it.”

“But you said it earlier. If I went to class, you would…”

“Say it.”

“...Fuck me.” Harry whispered.

“What was that?”

Harry growled impatiently, and again squeezed Draco’s trousers. “I said... fuck me.”

“Louder…”

“Dammit, Draco! Fuck me!” Harry slammed their mouths together again, biting a hole through Draco’s lip, eliciting a needy whine as Draco spun around and pushed Harry down onto the couch, the rest of their clothing quickly torn off and discarded.

 

*******

 

Harry and Draco lay panting on the couch-- as vampires, they didn’t need to breathe, but it was habitual-- covered in bloody bite marks, some which were healing fast, others which were still bleeding. Those latter ones would take days to heal, but neither vampire cared, nor did they care about the blood soaking the couch or the pile of shredded clothing.

“I can’t believe you actually fucked me in my female form,” Harry chuckled, as they say up.

“Hey, I promised you I would, regardless of form, if you went to class, and I always follow through on my promises.”

“So I see.” Harry smiled teasingly. “So, how was it, being with a girl?”

“Hmm. Surprisingly, not bad. Though the fact that it’s you definitely made a difference, as well as those vicious bites of yours…” Draco laughed. “If someone told me a few years ago that I’d be having sex with a girl while we viciously bit each other and licked up the blood, I’d have sent that person straight to St. Mungo’s psych ward!”

Harry laughed. “Same here, if in your shoes! Well, for the blood at least; I’d have accepted the fucking a girl part. I was viciously in denial back then.”

“Right…” Draco frowned. “Those stupid muggles and their stupid views.”

“Er. Let’s not talk about them post-sex, okay?”

“How is it that you’re utterly fine talking about it and saying it afterwards, yet before you’re all blushes and nerves?”

“Er… adrenaline? And I get nervous, asking for that, you know that!”

“But we’ve done it numerous times before. I’ve told you, you can ask for anything from me.”

“Well, yeah, but usually we don’t go quite that far...”

Draco rolled his eyes. “You’re hopeless.” He ruffled Harry’s hair a bit, then kissed her chastly. “It seems we fucked most the night though; classes will start soon, and we somehow need to fix those robes.”

“Er. Pretty sure the robes are done for.”

“It’s okay, I brought you some,” a dreamy voice said from the armchair. Both vampires turned to find Luna grinning at them, two sets of robes and undergarments in her arms. She waltzed over and handed them to the blushing couple.

“Er. When did you get here, Luna?” Draco chanced.

“Oh, only about a half hour ago… seems I missed most of it,” she said sadly. “Harry, why are you trying to cover yourself? I’ve seen it before.”

“Er, right. Sorry, instincts.”

Draco chuckled. “Such a prude.”

In response, Harry leaned over and bit Draco, high enough on the neck that the robes, not yet on, wouldn’t hide it. 

“Why, you!” Draco growled, and tackled Harry to bit him there, too. Harry bit back playfully, and soon they were rolling around on the floor, laughing and trying to bite anywhere they could, Luna laughing with delight.

“...you are aware we have class, soon?” an amused voice said from the doorway, and Harry and Draco leapt behind the couch to hide their undressed state.

“Oh, hello, Ginny!” Luna called in a sing-song manner. “I’m trying to get them dressed. You see, they seem to have ruined their clothes, but I brought them better ones.”

“I see that. And Harry, the female form has a top part to cover, as well, just in case you forgot.”

“Ah, sorry!” Harry folded her arms over her chest in embarrassment. “I, er, still seem unable to change back…” Their friends all knew how Harry had been trapped in his female form, as they’d all been in the lounge drinking the previous evening.

“That’s why I brought you female robes,” Luna pointed out. “You’re a little taller than me, but just as thin, so they should fit.”

“Right… and where’d you get the male clothes and robe, then?” Draco asked.

“I borrowed them from Neville, I think. The Gryffindor boys all have their clothes thrown everywhere, so it’s rather hard to tell. He was still asleep when I went to get them, but I don’t think he’ll mind.”

Ginny laughed. “Actually, I’m pretty sure those are Dean’s…”

“Well, he won’t mind either,” Luna said confidently.

“As long as they’re not Ron’s, we should be good,” Harry told them. “Er, Luna, how do I get this thing on?”

“And why did you bring me these?” Draco demanded, holding up a dainty pair of blue lace panties.

“Why do you have my panties?” Ginny wondered.

Luna ignored Ginny’s question. “You’ll look good in them,” she told Draco.

Draco sighed. “Whatever. At least my dorm is down the hall, I’ll have to duck in there and get a proper pair…”

“Actually, we have no time for that. Looks like you’ll have to wear them,” Harry teased. “Besides, they’re not nearly as bad as this.” He-- rather, she-- held up a tiny black thong with red lace that matched the bra luna was helping Harry put on. “I don’t even know how this is supposed to work.”

“I’ll help with that, too,” Luna assured Harry.

“Just, hurry up,” Ginny urged. “We really do all have to get to class now.”

“You look lovely, Harry!” Luna proclaimed, admiring her work. “Hey, Harry? You’re in a daze again.”

“What? Sorry.” Harry shrugged the robe on. 

“Are you okay?” Draco asked, looking at Harry curiously. “You’re not seeing things again, are you?”

“Other than auras? Not at all,” Harry lied-- he actually swore he had seen a glimpse of the universe, but they hadn’t done any nyx recently, so why? Harry shrugged it off; probably a fluke.

“Right… okay, let’s go, now.”

“Go where?”

“Class, of course!”

“Right, class… what day is it?”

“Harry, you’re acting like you’re high…” Draco appeared worried. “It’s Thursday. I have Charms, and you have Herbology, and then we all have Care of Magical Creatures together, remember?”

“Ah, yes, right. Let’s go.”

 

*******

 

 _“You’re back!!”_ The runespoor, Apollo, practically flew into Harry’s-- now back in male form-- arms, wrapping around him in pleasure.

 _“Oh, wow, you really grew over the summer,”_ Harry replied in parseltongue, barely managing to hold up the snake.

 _“I missed you soooooo much!”_ He flung from Harry to Draco, not bothering to go onto the ground first, which knocked Harry over in the process.

 _“Yes, we can see that!”_ Draco replied with a chuckle. _“We missed you too.”_

Everyone there stared at Draco in wonder, except Apollo. _“You learned my language!”_ the snake proclaimed excitedly. _“Look, my english writing and drawing have improved, too! And they got me a nice thing to do it on!”_ The snake darted over to a large chalkboard that had been attached to the side of Hagrid’s cabin, picked up some chalk, and began to mark the board.

“Holy shit, I just spoke parseltongue, didn’t I?” Draco looked around at his classmates-- Harry, Neville, Luna, and Blaise-- and Hagrid, as though expecting them to say he were imagining it.

“You’re not imagining it,” Luna told him. “Perhaps you acquired that ability from Harry, like you learned Latin and probably all the other human languages from him.” The group had been informed about Draco inheriting the ability to see auras, speak/read languages-- which he only discovered after seeing the Necronomicon’s text-- and sense danger from long-term drinking of Harry’s blood.

“So that power extends across non-humanoid species, then?” Blaise mused. “I suppose that makes sense, as its a power the cosmic beings pretty much need.”

“Wow. That’s a bloody good ability,” Neville commented.

“Took a while to set in, though; would have been useful last year. And Harry, think of all the secret conversations we could now have in it!”

Harry looked at Draco in confusion. “But we already use the dream-tongue for that.”

“Yes, but parseltongue is much more intimidating.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Angst. Nightmares. A new ability. A vision. Looks like our protagonists' respite from high trouble is over!
> 
>  
> 
> Song: Kansas, “Questions of my Childhood”


	10. Neville's Nightmare and Snape's Report

It was long past midnight, and Harry and Draco were just returning to the lounge after sneaking out for a quick hunt. They immediately cuddled up on the loveseat, as usual. A few weeks had passed, and everything seemed to be going fairly normal, if you could call their lives normal at this point. Harry felt a vague sense of unease about that-- classes were going well, save for yet another incident in potions which created yet another strange beast, they’d had a couple excursions with Luna... a couple a week, that is, they’d gone back to having small parties the past few friday nights, and saturday nights, and random weekdays… okay, perhaps that was a little excessive… but life had seemed to be going fairly okay, and Harry’s life never was just okay. The only true change was that Harry hardly went back to his dorm at night. He felt that somehow he could feel the emotions of people as they dreamt, and many of the students also woke screaming from nightmares more often than previous years, which was jarring when you had vampire hearing. Plus, when alone, Harry got to thinking about various things he did not want to think about. As a result, Harry and Draco’s beds in the dorms essentially were just storage spaces, at that point; now that all their friends knew about them not needing sleep, there was no reason to pretend to. The only one in Harry’s dorm who didn’t know was Seamus, and there was no one left in Draco’s but Blaise… whom was currently curled up asleep in the armchair, as he had drank a tad too much and passed out during their latest party.

“Hey, Draco?” Harry muttered, with a worried expression. Draco looked at Harry expectantly. “Do you think Blaise gets lonely at night? He’s the only one in the dorm, after all, with Nott in hiding and… well, you know.” Crabbe and Goyle had both been killed during the battle a few months prior.

Draco chuckled. “Don’t worry. He says he quite enjoys having the whole place to himself.”

“Then why has he been sleeping here more often than not?”

Draco shrugged. “Well, he tends to fall asleep when drunk, and we’ve been having more parties.”

“No, it’s more than just that. Some nights he’s been asleep in here even when he hasn’t been drinking. I think he’s been in here more than his room.”

Draco frowned. “Come to think of it, you’re right. Somewhat surprised you noticed it, though, with how absentminded you are.”

“I am not absentminded!” 

“Oh, come on. The other day in potions, you were in such a daze that you picked up the knife instead of the sliced tuber, which cut your hand and made you drop it into the potion. The Ministry was not pleased with having to subdue a giant knife-monster.”

“Yeah, well, that was just a fluke, could have happened to anyone…” Harry looked up at Draco. He was quite a bit taller than when they first kissed; then, they were nearly the same height, but now there was at least a full ten centimeters difference.

“I’d believe that, if it were an isolated incident. But since returning you also completely missed the targets in Defense, backed up into the venomous tentacula in Herbology, ended up in the Hospital Wing twice due to injuries you’d acquired in the Dreamlands that could have easily been avoided, missed two badgers tonight before finally catching one, walked into the girl’s bathroom when not in girl-form, got lost in the cat’s mind twice, set the Charms classroom on fire, and missed a quidditch practice-- and you’re captain! Harry? Are you paying any attention at all!?”

“What? Yeah, I am? Er. I was just noticing that you got taller since turning.”

“Well, yes, people do get taller as they grow.”

“But I haven’t. Supposedly the vampire age-halting thing takes a while to set in, and before it does it makes you attain a nice height and weight for whatever that final age is, supposedly. Yet I haven’t grown, and I’m still a stick.”

“Nonsense. You’ve got quite a bit of muscle on you, and have definitely grown a few centimeters.”

“No, I’m still the same height-- my posture’s just improved, making me look a little taller; as soon as I learned it would, I worked on that. And the muscle isn’t enough to offset the fact that my ribs still show.”

“Really? I hadn’t noticed.”

“Yes they do! Look!” Harry pulled up his shirt.

“Well when you suck in your stomach like that, of course they will.”

“Okay, fine.” Harry relaxed his stomach. “They still show without doing that though, see?”

“Barely. Until you pointed it out just now, I hadn’t noticed.”

“Point is, I’m still scrawny, even though the vampire magic is supposed to make people sexy!”

“You are sexy, though. Have you seen the way some of the girls look at you when you play quidditch?”

“They just like me because I’m famous.”

“No, pretty sure they’re looking at more than that…”

“Still! I’m going to forever look like a child! Doesn’t that bother you?”

“You do not look like a child at all, Harry, trust me on that.”

“But I’m so short…”

“Being of a slightly lower height than average does not have bearing on facial features. You look just as mature as any 17-year-old wizard.”

“But…”

Draco sighed. “Why must you argue this? You look amazing to me! That’s really what this is about, isn’t it? You're worried I’ll leave you because of looks?”

Harry looked down. “I, er, didn’t really mean it like that, but I guess if you do leave me for it, I can’t blame you,” he mumbled.

“Seriously? Do you really think I’m that shallow?” Draco snapped.

“What? No! I didn’t mean it like that!”

“Then believe me when I say that I love you how you are! I would never be so vain as to dismiss you for your looks-- which, as they stand now, are utterly breathtaking to me, so don’t go off and say you’re not sexy because of irrelevant things like height. Hell, you’re even sexy to me in your female form, which I thought would never be possible. But even if you looked horrid, I would still love you. Just like how Fleur still loves and married Bill despite his facial scarring after the attack. You’re my little kitten, and no visual change will affect that.”

“...promise?”

“Yes, I promise.” Draco pulled Harry over and kissed his forehead, holding his boyfriend close.

“If your little lover’s spat is over now, could you please let me get some sleep?” Blaise huffed, burying his head in the chair’s cushion.

 

*******

 

Harry returned to his dorm room as quietly as possible so as not to wake any of his friends-- it was 3am, after all. All he needed was a book, and then he could leave. As Harry dug through his trunk, he heard a very faint murmuring noise as well as tossing about. He looked around, pinpointing the noise as coming from Neville’s bed next to him-- there must be a silencing charm upon it. He had discovered early on, upon gaining vampire hearing, that silencing charms did not actually silence things, rather, muted the noise to a volume humans could not hope to perceive without aid. He wondered how many people actually knew that-- probably few, if any, as then there’d be an influx of eavesdropping via sound enhancement charms.

More murmuring, then a small strangled scream. Was Neville having a nightmare? Harry slipped behind the curtains carefully, to observe. Yes, nightmare. Harry could smell quite a bit of sweat on the boy too; a fever, perhaps? Though humans did often sweat when they slept, and those blankets looked fairly warm for the temperature. Still, better make sure. Harry placed his hand on Neville’s forehead.

Suddenly, Harry was no longer in the dorm room. He gazed around; things were a bit foggy, but he could swear this was the Department of Mysteries. There were screams off in the distance; Harry darted towards them. He noticed some blood on the ground, and hurried. 

In the brain room, Harry froze. Someone dashed out the opposite door, leaving Ron, who was tangled in brains, with Ginny and Neville, trying to help-- though there were many more than Harry remembered, and Ginny was becoming tangled too. He ran over, trying to help, but went straight through.

“Neville, leave us! Go help him!” Ginny called, struggling to breathe.

“But, I can’t just leave you!”

“Yes, you can! He needs your help right now; don’t leave him to fight alone!”

Neville seemed uncertain for a minute, and the walls began to darken and close in. Neville turned and dashed out the door the figure had run out of earlier. Harry followed to find… himself, whom had dropped his wand and was being held up by a cloaked Death Eater, an arm around his neck. Then, Harry realized-- this was a dream. Neville was dreaming about the Ministry battle, and he had somehow intruded upon that. Could he get out of it? Would waking Neville up let him escape?

“Harry!” Neville called out, dashing towards the dream him. Suddenly, large fangs descended from dream-Harry’s mouth, digging into the man who was trying to strangle him. Hmm, that was different-- seemed the dream was exaggerating things. The man fell backwards, and Neville shot a spell at him.

“Neville, you have to wake up,” Harry tried calling, but Neville didn’t seem to hear him. If things were exaggerated, how would the Old One appear? Harry watched the battle in awe, Order members running in and fighting too, while still trying to reach Neville; he thought perhaps Neville may have heard him one, but then…

“HARRY!” Came a loud call from next to him, as something flew across the room… and into the veil. Neville dashed over and held Draco back, along with Lupin, Draco wailing the whole time, until the veil glowed, and a figure flew out and into the wall, which they ran to… Dream-Harry was covered in blood, nearly unconscious, and muttering about them having to get away, something was coming…. he saw Tonks lying unconscious on the floor-- along with the other Order members...

Harry had to wake Neville up, NOW. He dashed in front of him, shouting, trying to catch his attention as tentacles slowly began emerging from the veil. No, not just the veil… the walls, the doors, floor, ceiling, everywhere, and they were grabbing everyone in reach. Harry put his hands on Neville’s shoulders, facing him, and Neville finally seemed to notice him.

Neville’s eyes widened, and he looked back and forth between the two Harrys. “How are you…?”

“You’re dreaming!” Harry shouted. “You need to wake up! Hurry!” Quiet tears streamed down Harry’s face; he couldn’t watch this happen; not again, and not to this extreme… “Please, WAKE UP!”

A gasp, and they were back in the bedroom, Neville lying on the bed with Harry’s hand on his forehead. Both their eyes were saucers, and they were both shaking.

“What… was that?” Neville whispered.

“You had a nightmare.”

“I know… but how did you…?”

“I don’t really know; I noticed you tossing and turning, and thought perhaps you had a fever. But when I touched you, suddenly I was there in the dream with you...”

Neville turned away. “Sorry you had to see that…”

“Do you dream it a lot?” Harry asked, sitting next to Neville, who had sat up, trying to calm down yet failing.

“Yes… do you? Oh, wait. I forgot.”

“No, I understand. I’m sure I’d be having nightmares, too, if I could sleep. Before I turned, the nightmares of the graveyard persisted almost nightly. And I still have flashbacks fairly often, when awake.”

Neville smiled sadly. “Our lives are really messed up, aren’t they?”

“Yeah…”

“But, you know, the Mind Healer they invited does help.”

“You see her, too?”

“Yes, I do. They really stressed that those of us who fought should see her, so I caved, and I’m glad I did. The nightmares come less now.”

“Yeah, she does help,” Harry admitted. “I was seeing Madam Pomfrey for it before, but Healer Strout also used to work with humans-turned-creatures, helping them deal with that. I can talk about things related to that, and she understands… I really wish I had talked to her when I first turned, but I adamantly denied talking to anyone back then, and only started because they forced me.”

“Wait, they actually forced you? You have no choice but to see her?”

Harry nodded. “Twice a week, minimum. There’s been too many incidents for them to ignore… though they still insist certain things are a problem that are definitely not,” he said the last phrase through gritted teeth. “I’m actually surprised it took so long for them to force me into seeing one; I fully expected them to do so right after I turned, or at least right after the Ministry battle… hell, I’m surprised they didn’t have me talk to someone after the graveyard, or the chamber, or when I encountered Quirrell.”

Neville inhaled sharply. “Right, you’ve been through all that, as well… and they ignored it? Just assumed you’d be fine?”

“They ignored a lot of things. Adamantly so. I must have told Dumbledore about the Dursleys ten or so times, at least, but he still sent be back each summer, until Snape saw the memories while teaching me Occlumency.”

Neville looked down into his hands, which lay on his lap. “I don’t know how bad you had it there, but I might understand a little. When I didn’t start showing signs of having magic soon enough, my relatives started doing things to try to force it out, getting progressively worse. I nearly drowned in a lake once; then the magic finally showed when Uncle Algie dropped me out a window and I bounced.”

Harry gasped. “That’s horrible! If you hadn’t, you could have died!”

“Yeah, I know… but, I don’t think he intended to actually drop me, just dangle me out it and threaten to, but he gripped my leg poorly.”

Harry shook his head. “Don’t defend him. Dangling a child out a window is still horrid!”

“I suppose. But you must have had it much worse, if they took custody from them.”

“Don’t say that. Your experiences aren’t any less valid just because others have had it worse.”

“I know.” Neville gave Harry a small smile. “But, for me it was mostly the family I didn’t live with doing things, meaning there was respite; you actually had to live with your abusers.”

“That’s true… and what’s worse is that I didn’t even realize any of it wasn’t normal. I’d tried telling teachers at the muggle school a few times, but they thought I was exaggerating because everyone else saw the Dursleys as good people. They put a front on, looking like the perfect little family, and when asked about me told people I was just ‘their troubled nephew they had gracefully taken in’, claiming I was just from a bad family and acting out, so people actually took pity on them for ‘having the burden of taking care of such a boy’. Said the bruises and whatnot were from me being reckless. Called me a freak so often that I believed them.”

“Wow. Did any of your friends know? Surely they must have seen the bruises...”

“I didn’t have any friends before Hogwarts. Dudley would beat up anyone who dared try to befriend me.”

“Oh wow.” Neville frowned. “And Dumbledore made you go back there each summer, until Snape found out?”

“Yeah. Something about some protection magic based around my mother’s blood, and my aunt was the last remaining. But what use is having protection against magic when the damage being done doesn’t involve any?”

“You know, I’m starting to believe the gossip that he’s off his rocker.”

Harry laughed a little. “He definitely is… but it’s not all bad! He’s still a great wizard; just a bit misguided about some things.”

“More like, a lot misguided on some things.”

“There you are!” Draco hissed, appearing within the curtains. “Harry, I thought you were just retrieving a book! When you didn’t return… hey, are you two okay? You look panicked. Should I get a calming draught? Er, for both of you? What happened?”

Harry winced. “Sorry, Draco. I didn’t mean to scare you. I don’t think we need the potions?” Harry glanced at Neville, who shook his head. “Anyway, when I went to get the book, I heard Neville having a nightmare… he was tossing and sweating, so I thought he might have a fever. When I touched him, I ended up in the dream, too…”

Draco blinked in surprise. “You can go into dreams?”

“Apparently so.”

“Wow… what was the dream? Er. Unless it’s private.”

Neville smiled at him. “It’s okay; you’re my friend, I don’t mind telling you. It was about the Ministry battle, but with everything much worse.”

“Ah… no wonder you both look so freaked out.”

“Yeah, it was quite poignant,” Harry sighed. “Just when I thought I’d gotten mostly over that one…”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, don’t apologize, Neville! Worry about yourself, not me; it was just as traumatizing for you as well.”

“And Draco…”

“I didn’t see the dream though.”

“But you still have the memories!” Harry asserted. “They affect you too, still. You wince at things that bring it to mind.”

“Yes, but you’re the ones who just essentially had to relive it. You’re both still shaking.” Draco shook his head. “Bloody Gryffindors. Always putting others before your own well-being.”

“I don’t-- uagh!” Harry clutched his scar, which was burning like he hadn’t felt in many months. He tried putting occlumency shields up, but his mind was simply too shaken up from that dream… he felt like he was spiralling into darkness…

Snape was standing in front of him. “I already told you; I cannot bring you the wand. He he does not have it anymore.”

Harry’s-- No, Voldemort’s, he was clearly seeing through his eyes again-- rage was phenomenal. “How can this come to be? It is the most powerful wand there is! Tell me, who has taken it from him?”

“No one, my Lord; it has been destroyed, as I said.”

“You lie! It cannot have been! Crucio!”

Harry watched in horror as Snape fell to the ground, convulsing in pain. “M-my Lord,” he gasped, after the spell ended. “I do not lie. The wand was eaten by the creature sent to destroy him, along with most of Dumbledore’s arm.”

Voldemort’s rage subsided slightly, and a feeling of curiosity overcame him. “The beast ate the wand?”

“Yes, my Lord.”

“And his arm.”

“Yes, my Lord, although he has a prosthetic now.”

“I see.” Voldemort’s mouth twisted into a smile. “This is good news… despite Dumbledore’s death not occuring, he is left weaker, thus no longer as large of a threat… Perhaps I drew conclusions too quickly, used the curse on you too soon. You are still a most loyal servant.”

“Thank you, my Lord.” Snape’s voice was low, obedient. Voldemort was pleased. Snape was nice and submissive; a perfect servant. “Might I suggest, if it suits your needs, I return to Hogwarts? I do not desire to disagree with you, but in my opinion, Dumbledore may still prove to be a large threat, as he still runs the Order.”

Voldemort thought for a moment. “Yes, I suppose that is true. I will forgive the transgression, as your point is well made. Yes, I think perhaps you ought to return; there is no one else, now that the creature has destroyed all of my other servants that were there… come to think of it, how did you escape it? From my understanding, it killed anyone possessing my Mark.”

“I was spared because Potter requested it. As you know, I brew the potion he requires; because of this, and the fact that Dumbledore trusts me, he believes me to be on his side.”

“Ah, yes… he can speak to those beasts… Tell me, how much contact does he have with these beasts?”

“Have the gods not told you of this?”

Voldemort’s rage grew once more. “Those so-called gods are useless! They give barely any information other that they want the boy dead, though they do not say why, and give their so-called ‘help’ in obtuse hints! When this world is mine, I will subdue them, and force their obedience to me, just as I will do to those beasts! Now, tell me what you know of his relationship to them, or do I need to punish you again?”

“Please, my Lord! I will tell you what I know, though it is not much. As you know, the giant squid in Hogwarts lake was one, though it is dead after fighting the beast sent to take out Dumbledore. From my understanding, he has been talking to it. It has also talked to Draco--”

“Do not mention the name of that traitor!” Voldemort bellowed, and struck Snape with the pain curse once again. No one betrayed Voldemort and lived. He would get that boy, and destroy him along with Potter and Dumbledore.

Snape gasped as he collected himself. “I apologize, my Lord. I will not mention his name again.”

“I should hope not,” Voldemort’s voice was as cold as ice. “Now, as you were saying?”

“The squid has also talked to the traitor. However, it seems it has spoken to no other student but those two. Therefore, it is my conclusion that they can speak to these beasts because of the nature of what they are.”

Voldemort cackled. “Yes, that would make sense, beasts talking to beasts!” He became serious again. Voldemort’s emotions seemed like riding a huge roller coaster. “And this is the only one he has had contact with? Why, then, did the one I sent obey his wishes?”

“From my understanding, the beast had been friends with the squid in the past. As it had seen that Potter knew the squid, it listened to him.”

“And that is the only reason?”

“As far as I am aware, my Lord.”

Voldemort’s rage had calmed entirely, and a plan was forming. “Well, then, I have some orders for you…”

Harry gasped; the vision had ended, though his scar still burned hot.

“Harry! Are you okay? What happened?” Draco asked frantically, holding him tightly.

“I- I saw a vision, again… I tried to block it out, but couldn’t… I thought my occlumency had improved, I hadn’t seen anything for months…”

Draco moved a hand through Harry’s hair. “Shh, it’s okay. You just had a traumatic experience; no one would blame you for your shields being weak after that.”

“He must have been really angry or something, though, wasn’t he?” Neville mused.

“Yeah,” Harry replied. “Snape found him, and didn’t like some of the information he reported. He used the cruciatus curse some. But he still believes Snape is loyal! He was mad because apparently he wanted Dumbledore’s wand, but it’s been destroyed. He then questioned Snape…” Harry explained it all.

“Wow. Snape really must be a master occlumens, then,” Draco marvelled, “If he can have the Dark Lord convinced of all that.”

“Just enough truth amongst the lies to make it believable,” Neville commented. “Brilliant.”

“Yes,” Harry agreed. “But, Draco… you really need to be careful. It seems Voldemort is after your blood just as much as he is after mine and Dumbledore’s.”

Draco skeptically raised an eyebrow. “You can’t be serious. I’m nowhere on the same level as you and Dumbledore.”

“Apparently, he sees you as a traitor, and he abhors traitors just as much.”

“A traitor?! I was never on his side!”

“Apparently, he sees it differently.”

“That bastard! If he ever goes near me or you, I’ll tear him limb from limb!”

Harry grinned. “Not if I do it first!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Pomfrey discover's Draco's got cosmic magic, a confrontation with Snape, and someone else's dream.
> 
> (Might not get it posted until Friday; it's not fully written yet)


	11. Draco's Abilities and Blaise's Memory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Long have I missed thee, Aira, for I was but young when we went into exile; but my father was thy King and I shall come again to thee, for it is so decreed of Fate. All through seven lands have I sought thee, and some day shall I reign over thy groves and gardens, thy streets and palaces, and sing to men who shall know whereof I sing, and laugh not nor turn away. For I am Iranon, who was a Prince in Aira."
> 
> \--H.P. Lovecraft, excerpt from "The Quest of Iranon"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First section (therapy) added post-publication (around 4 days later) to correct an error with the timeline of things.

“I still crave it,” Harry admitted.

“Crave what, dear?” Healer Strout asked gently,during one of their biweekly therapy sessions.

“You know what.” Harry was tapping his foot in agitation. Did she have to make him clarify everything?

“Yes, but you need to say it.” Yes, apparently she did.

“Blood.”

“Well, you are a vampire. Vampires crave blood.”

“Human blood! It should have stopped. I should have been able to settle back into having just animal blood and the potion! But I still crave it, eight months later! Someone cut their finger in potions yesterday, and it took all my will not to leap over there. Draco can restrain himself fine.”

“Has he said this, or are you making an assumption?”

Harry cringed. “Assuming, I guess. But it’s obvious!”

“Is it? Perhaps you should ask him about it.”

“But--”

“Look. From my experience, a vampire never stops craving human blood. It’s always there, at the back of the mind. Someone cuts themselves? You smell it, and are tempted. This is natural. You aren’t experiencing anything abnormal.”

“But I could control myself so much better before… well, before I had some. I didn’t crave it as much.”

“Did you? Or are you only noticing it more now that you’re thinking so much about it?”

Harry thought for a moment, calming his foot tapping. Was that the reason? He thought to incidents in the past. People cut themselves plenty in potions class. Had he always been tempted? “Come to think of it, maybe… maybe I am just being more aware than I used to… I’ve always been afraid I’d attack whenever someone cut themselves…”

Healer Strout smiled. “See? That’s nothing out of the ordinary. Why, it’d be more concerning if you didn’t feel that way.”

“Really?”

Madam Strout smiled at him. "Yes, really."

 

_______

Harry dragged Draco to the Hospital Wing despite much protest. “You need to go. A quick potion is all it’ll take, I’m sure.”

“A potion caused this to begin with!”

“Why are you so adamant about not going?”

“Because it’s bloody embarrassing, okay?”

The two entered the Hospital Wing, and Madam Pomfrey shuffled over. “What’s the problem, boys?”

Draco froze. “Why are they here?” He gestured to Hermione, Neville, Ron, Dean, and Ginny, as well as some other students from other houses. There was perhaps eleven students total.

“It’s the healing class,” Madam Pomfrey told them. “If you don’t want to talk in front of them, we can put a privacy charm on a curtain.”

“No, that’s okay, it was just a potion accident; you see--”

“I definitely do not want to talk about it in front of them,” Draco huffed. “It’s already too embarrassing having to be here.”

“Okay, I understand.” The Healer shuffled them to a private bed area. “Now, Draco, tell me what happened. You seem to be limping; I suppose whatever it is is in a not very comfortable area?”

“Er, yes. I spilled a potion on my pants, and it has caused a rather uncomfortable effect on… there.”

“I see. Well, I’m going to need to see it. Harry, please step out for a moment.”

“No, it’s fine,” Draco said, pulling down his pants. “Nothing he hasn’t seen before.” 

“Oh my. Well, a simple deflating draught should do the trick.” She left to grab something from her cabinet, then returned with a vial of potion. “Drink this, and the swelling should be gone within the hour.”

Draco drank the potion... and then promptly vomited, luckily managing to at least turn to the trash can to do so. 

“Draco!” Harry darted over, rubbing his back. “What happened? Are you okay?”

“I… I think so…” Draco coughed out, then vomited again.

Harry had a sneaking suspicion he knew why the reaction had occurred. “Madam Pomfrey, what are the ingredients to the potion? Is there any squill or fluxweed?”

“Well, yes, there is some fluxweed, but why… ah.” A note of understanding came across her. “You think he might be allergic, like you?”

“Maybe…”

“Hmm. Might I ask why you think such? Remember, Healer-Patient confidentiality; you can tell me anything, and I won’t talk without permission, unless it is life-threatening.”

Harry considered this. Yes, he could trust talking to her about this; she had kept even the vampirism secret from Dumbledore, when she found that out. “Well, he seems to be developing cosmic abilities similar to mine. He’s started to see glimpses of auras, too, and has a heightened sense of danger, like I do,” Harry divulged. “Oh, and can speak any language; that’s an ability I discovered over the summer, and he just did yesterday when he accidentally spoke parseltongue to Apollo.” That part wasn’t wholly true, but Harry wasn’t going to tell her they first figured that out because he could read the Latin in the Necronomicon. “We think it’s because he, er, sometimes drinks my blood. Do you think that’s why he’s having such a reaction? He couldn’t hold down polyjuice over the summer, either, when we tried to use it to hide during a large event.”

Madam Pomfrey frowned. “I thought you were instructed to stay away from blood, after last spring?”

Harry looked uncomfortable. “Well, yes, but it’s been difficult to, so sometimes we have each others’. Healer Strout knows, and thinks it’s a good idea, actually. She talked to Dumbledore about it, but he’s being stubborn. I don’t think he understands.”

“I see… well, Madam Strout has more experience with vampires than both I or Dumbledore do, so I would agree with following what she says about it, regardless of Dumbledore’s opinion… Now, does Dumbledore know about any of the cosmic magic displays Draco has, or no? Just so I know if I need to avoid saying anything.” She smiled kindly.

“No, and we don’t want to worry him with it, since it’s only those and they’re very mild, except for this allergy thing. You’re the only one who knows other than our friend group.”

“And it’s just those things manifesting?”

“Yes, just those things,” Harry lied.

“I think… I’m feeling… a bit better now…” Draco croaked. “At least, my stomach is fully empty… oh, and it seems the swelling has gone down, too, despite coughing up the potion.”

“Good, good… you’re still going to rest here for a while, though, until you feel completely better!” Madam Pomfrey enjoined.

 

*******

 

“Oh yes, it is all true,” the traveller told them. “The zoogs have indeed declared war on the cats. As you are known allies of the cats, I would bid ye caution entering the Enchanted Woods.”

“Thank you for the information,” Harry said, finishing up his mug of buttered-beere-- it was a concoction made from ale, spices, sugar, egg-yolk, and butter, served steaming hot. An odd combination at first glance, but it tasted fairly good-- similar to butterbeer, yet decidedly different. A little bit like pumpkin pie, actually.

As the man left, Luna returned with more drinks.

“You were chatting with the boys at the bar for quite a while,” Draco commented slyly. “They’re pretty cute, too, I must say.”

“Draco!” Harry slapped his boyfriend teasingly.

“Yes, I suppose they are,” Luna mused. “Their names are Iranon and Romnod; they were asking me how to find a city called Aira, wherein the younger one apparently grew up. He says it is a lovely city, made of marble and beryl, with a river and waterfall running through. The people there supposedly sing and dance in celebration all the time.”

“Hmm. That’s all? Sounds like any number of places here,” Draco mused, seemingly bored now.

“It sounds like it might be fun to visit, though,” Harry said. “Perhaps we can help them?”

“No, we can’t do that,” Luna said sadly. “The place does not exist.”

“What? Then why didn’t you tell him?” Draco wondered.

“Because,” Luna’s voice feel to a whisper, “The belief that he will find it is the only thing keeping him alive.”

 

*******

 

Snape raised an eyebrow as he entered the classroom. “Bored of the lack of detentions this year, are we, Harry? That can be remedied if you do not stop sitting on my desk.”

Harry ignored that. “So, you’re back on Voldy’s goodside?”

“Harry, stop being a cocky bastard.” Draco pulled Harry off the desk.

“Aww, but you love it when I’m a cocky bastard.”

Draco blushed. “This isn’t the time for flirting. Class is starting soon, and you’re the one who wanted to get there early to talk with him!”

“And what is it you wanted to talk about?” Snape asked, unamused.

“We want to know what Voldemort tasked you with. Why he decided to send you back here.”

Snape raised an eyebrow. “And how, pray tell, do you know of this?”

Harry grimaced slightly. Of course, Snape would be mad if he realized it was a vision. “Er. Well. We assumed he must have, or else you wouldn’t have returned after finding him, right?”

Snape crossed his arms, staring directly at Harry. “Hmm. Well, your occlumency shields seem in place right now, good. However, it is obvious that they must have fallen recently and allowed you to see into his mind, for no one but Dumbledore knows of my whereabouts or why I returned.”

Harry slightly bit his lip. “Er. Yeah, it did. But I wasn’t being careless or inattentive! His emotions were really strong when talking to you, and slipped in before I could get the shields back up!”

“They shouldn’t have been down to begin with.”

“I know! They slipped briefly, and I didn’t have enough time to set them back up!”

“Professor,” Draco interjected. “He really couldn’t help it; there was an incident, and he was in a lot of emotional turbulence.”

Snape crinkled his eyebrows. “Incident? I didn’t hear of any incident. Did you report it?”

“No, it wasn’t anything like that!” Harry defensed. “It was a nightmare.”

“Try again, Harry. Vampires don’t sleep, ergo, do not have nightmares.”

“Well, it wasn’t my nightmare! It was Neville’s.”

“And how would Neville’s nightmare cause you to become so emotional your shields drop?”

Draco sighed. “Harry, you are really bad at explaining things. What happened was that Neville was having a nightmare. Harry was worried so went to check if he was okay, but when he touched Neville he ended up inside his dream, or at least his consciousness did. From what I gather, the dream was an exaggerated version of the Department of Mysteries Battle fifth year. Immediately after waking Neville, and thus himself, they were both an utter wreck, and at that instant the vision hit.”

Snape nodded. “I see. Yes, that is a much better explanation. How much did you see, then, of the conversation?”

“He used the cruciatus curse on you when he heard the wand was gone. Then you explained that, then he asked how you survived, and you skewed the truth about that, and then lied about how much contact we had with the Old Ones, saying it was just those he knew about already, and making him think speaking to them was due to us being vampires. He believes all that, by the way-- I could feel that too. It cut out right as he said he was giving you orders.”

“That’s quite a bit you saw… could you not have blocked it out anytime sooner?”

Harry cringed. “It’s not like I have much control, once one of those visions begin… I’m not very conscious of the fact it’s me watching it rather than really being there.”

Snape raised an eyebrow. “Oh? You truly cannot, or do you just not want to? You always have been annoyingly curious.”

“What! I don’t want to see them! Or continue them! You think I like watching what he does, being in his mind?”

“Stop upsetting him!” Draco demanded, glaring at Snape. Harry and Snape both froze, not expecting Draco to exhibit such anger, especially with…

“How did you learn that?” Snape demanded. “And why would you even attempt to use it on me, despite knowing I am a master occlumens?”

Draco was quite surprised himself. “That… I didn’t mean to…”

“Didn’t mean to?” Snape narrowed his eyes. “That isn’t usually the type of magic one uses accidentally, not if it’s coming from regular human magic.”

Draco paled. “I, uh, well, you see…”

“How long has it been going on?”

“What do you mean, sir?”

“Don’t count me for a fool, Draco.”

Draco peered curiously at Snape. “You’re bluffing.”

“And you are examining my aura.”

“What! How do you…”

“That just confirmed it.” Snape sneered, clearly proud at his clever trap. “You get the same look Harry and Luna get when doing such. So, you’re seeing auras. You have a commanding ability. You are allergic to the same things Harry is-- yes, allergens are made known to professors. Plus, rumor has it you are doing quite well in your Natural Magic class, a quality only shared by Harry and Luna. You clearly have somehow acquired cosmic magic.”

“Fine. Yes, somehow I have. It was a surprise to me, as well.”

“Was it, now?”

“Yes.” Draco sighed. “Some things started to come about last year, like the auras. At first I thought I was imagining it, since it was only very brief flashes-- in retrospect, not dissimilar to how Harry started out. Then I used the commanding power, but it was weak so I thought again it was just imagination. It wasn’t until recently I realized it was more than that.”

“It seems to be a side-effect from drinking my blood,” Harry admitted. “Not that we do that anymore, since Dumbledore said not to,” he quickly added.

“And it’s nowhere near the level Harry has,” Draco added.

Snape raised an eyebrow. “Are you certain? Harry does have that amulet meant to increase power, after all.”

Draco chuckled. “Actually, sir, I have the amulet.” He lifted it out to show it, the pink stone with swirls of other colours shimmering.

Snape looked plain confused now. “Why do you have the amulet?”

“Because Harry now has a different piece of jewelry that does the same thing.”

“And just what would that be?”

“Draco,” Harry warned. He better not be thinking about telling the man exactly what type of jewelry it was!

“I’ll leave up to the imagination.” Draco winked.

Oh, no, he did not! “It’s a belly-button ring, and Luna’s fault that it’s there!” Harry blurted, before Snape could ponder too much about Draco’s implication.

“I suggest not continuing the conversation,” a voice behind them said, full of mild amusement-- Blaise had arrived. “You’re lucky I was the first one to arrive, or else you’d have to explain that to the whole school when the rumors got out.”

“We will continue this discussion later,” Snape decided, as a few other students arrived. “Find your seats.”

 

*******

 

“I think we need to do something about it,” Harry mused, watching Blaise twitching in a nightmare while once again curled up in the armchair, shirtless, the scent of alcohol in the air. It was 3am, and Harry and Draco had just returned from another Dreamlands trip.

“Pomfrey could give him dreamless sleep,” Draco offered.

Harry shook his head. “He’s been cut off from it; I heard Pomfrey tell him that during my therapy session with Strout earlier.”

“If you’re thinking of going into his dream, forget about it; you remember what happened last time you tried such!”

“Yeah, I know. I won’t. But you can feel it, can’t you? His dream is horrible. You should wake him; I don’t dare try, as I’d probably end up in it, but you can.”

“Yeah. He’ll be pissed, but better than being trapped in a nightmare.” Draco strode over and put his hand on Blaise’s shoulder; as their skin touched, he collapsed into a sleep, as well.

Harry swore, dashing over. Draco had this ability now, too? He touched Draco to see if he could snape him out of it-- and then, there he was, also in the dream.

They were in… a house? Harry looked at Draco, slightly confused. They had both fully expected it to be one of three things: the Ministry battle, the Astronomy Tower battle, or the necronomiconal ritual. The two looked around for Blaise. It was a very large house, three stories, but not a manor, just a general mansion. Draco of course already knew the house, being Blaise’s friend since a child. They found Blaise, who appeared perhaps a year younger, in his bedroom, looking terrified. He was in just his underwear, and had a black eye and bruises all over, but that was not the most notable thing. No, the most notable was that he held a bloody knife in his hand, staring at the man on the ground in front of him who seemed to have been stabbed many more times than was necessary.

Draco cringed. “Looks like we discovered what happened to his last stepdad.”

Harry shook his head in disbelief. “Wow. I would have never thought he was capable of this…”

“Under normal circumstances, no,” Draco reasoned. “But look at all those bruises. He’s utterly horrified, too, at what he did…”

The dream-Blaise collapsed onto his knees, breaking down into tears. Quickly the two vampires dashed over, and did the best they could to wake Blaise. Similarly to Neville, it took a while, but finally he noticed them, and woke.

Harry and Draco stood, staring worriedly at Blaise, who stayed curled in the armchair, wrapping his arms around his knees, unable to look at his friends.

“Blaise?” Harry ventured after a few minutes. “Do you want to talk about it? That usually helps.”

“What’s there to talk about?” Blaise mumbled. “You saw what I did. I’m a killer. I’ve killed someone. I don’t even know how you can stand to talk to me.”

Harry couldn’t help himself-- he let out a small chuckle. “Yes, and so have I, remember? I literally tore Bellatrix’s throat out with my teeth. You’re not alone in this.”

Blaise actually smiled a little, too. “I suppose that’s true.” He took a deep breath and looked at them with tepid confidence. “Right, I suppose I’ll try talking. So, firstly, I don’t regret it-- he was shit, I’m sure you saw those bruises on me. And it’s not like I’m uncomfortable with killing in general-- you know my mom, he would have died in a year or so anyway-- but it’s different when you do it yourself, you know? When there’s so much blood. When you can feel them die. It’s funny; so many times I’ve seen my mom kill, albeit more subtly, yet only after that-- after Christmas break last year, that is-- have I been able to see thestrals. I guess that’s where the ‘comprehend’ part of seeing them comes in, huh?” He paused to let the two react.

Harry nodded. “I can understand. There were times when, if I had a weapon on me, I would have surely attacked Uncle Vernon.”

“Why did you have the knife, anyway? Did you plan it?” Draco asked curiously. “Er, sorry, that was probably really insensitive.”

Blaise shook his head. “No, that’s okay. It wasn’t planned, but mom always insists I keep a knife under my pillow just in case. I was able to grab it while he was, er, pulling my clothing off... that was the first time he went that far, though; I panicked, and pulled the knife out, only thinking about protecting myself.”

“So it was self-defense,” Draco pointed out.

“Well, technically, but I only needed to stab him once or twice to get away… instead I kept going, just kept stabbing, until he was unmistakably dead. When I realized after what I’d done… well, I suppose it was the same with Bellatrix, wasn’t it?”

“Yes,” Harry confessed. “Exactly the same. The emotion took over. Madam Strout told me that is common among anyone in such a situation, where violence is required for protection, especially when the attacker has severely harmed you.”

Blaise smiled. “I really wish I could talk to her about this, you know. But it needs to remain a secret; don’t want the Ministry to prosecute, after all.”

“Come to think of it, how did you get away with it?” Draco wondered. “Didn’t your mother realize?”

Blaise raised an eyebrow. “You DO remember who my mother is, right? When she returned home, all she did was chide me for making too much of a mess before helping cover it up. Apparently she’d been getting fed up with him anyway, already had her own plans for him in process.”

Harry let out a low whistle. “Our lives are all really messed up, aren’t they?”

Blaise laughed outright. He was pretty collected for having such a nightmare and talking about this-- even his aura confirmed it. “You’ve got that right, Harry. You’ve definitely got that right.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: The cup horcrux found! Break into Gringotts!
> 
>  
> 
> There wasn't much I could really do with it here, but Lovecraft's story "The Quest of Iranon" is a good one. It's a few pages long, and available free online.


	12. The Vault

“Ah, there you are,” Dumbledore said pleasantly, as Draco and Harry entered his office. “And completely sober, for once!”

Harry and Draco looked at each other in worried confusion. Was dumbledore actually attempting to joke?

“Oh, I merely jest. I know you’ve been very good about that so far this year. A full month back, yet no incidents! Much better than I expected, I must say.” Yellow-purple sparks of amusement sparkled around Dumbledore.

Harry decided to ignore this. “Er. Why did you call us here?”

“Ah, yes, yes. Well, I am happy to say that I discovered where a Horcrux is located! Or, suspect one is, at least, if Severus’s information is correct.”

“Snape knows about the horcruxes?” Draco asked.

“Not specifically, no. But, he helped me with the ring, if you recall; he knows it was enchanted by Voldemort. I asked him to report to me if he learned of any other objects that Voldemort seems to hold dear.”

“And he has?” Harry’s heart raced. The quicker they found the horcruxes, the quicker they could defeat Voldemort before another incident like the previous spring’s occurred.

“Yes, he has. It seems Voldemort is quite distraught about the Lestrange’s vault at Gringotts; he was saying something about needing to retrieve a cup from there. The vault has been passed onto the only remaining family member of hers, barring ones that have been disowned: Narcissa Malfoy, who is refusing his demands to open the vault.”

Draco gasped. “He has my mother?”

Dumbledore looked at Draco somberly. “Yes, I’m afraid he does.”

“We have to rescue her!” Draco didn’t want to see his mother at the mercy of the Dark Lord, regardless of the fact that he had withdrawn association with her.

“I’m afraid it is too late for that,” a somber voice said, followed by Snape entering the office.

“What do you mean by that?” Draco demanded. Harry grabbed his hand; he already guessed at what Snape meant.

“Narcissa killed herself in defiance.”

Draco stared at Snape. He couldn’t speak. A sharp pang in his chest. His mother was dead? But then after that there was no feeling, he realized. He didn’t feel different, wasn’t sad; it was just the brief pang of surprise. He wasn’t in shock, though. Shouldn’t he be feeling upset? Why wasn’t he upset? Should he admit that he wasn’t?

Harry squeezed Draco’s hand. “If you need to cry, no one will blame you,” he whispered. Then he stared at Draco for a moment, pondering something. “And if you don’t need to, no one will blame you either.”

Draco looked at Harry curiously. “What do you mean by that?”

“I can see your aura.”

Draco looked away. “I don’t understand it,” he whispered, tears forming. “I cried immediately when Selardi died, and the multiple times I thought you did, or would. But now I’m not. I don’t feel different. She’s my mother! I’m supposed to feel something, aren’t I? I mean, with my father, I didn’t feel sad, either, but that’s because I hated him. I still loved my mother though, even though we’d cut contact.”

Dumbledore smiled gently. “Draco. What you feel after someone dies depends immensely on the situation. For Selardi, you saw her every day. She was essentially an extension of yourself. You then watched her die brutally without warning. Your mother, however, you hadn’t seen in years. You’d already resigned yourself to never seeing her again, subconsciously relegated her to a mere memory. You are now being told she died, but you did not see it, and it won’t change anything in your life. Ergo, little reaction. You are by far not the only one who has experienced such.”

“In addition,” Snape followed, “being abruptly separated from someone you love, knowing you’ll never see them again, is no different from them dying, is it not? The emotions felt are the same. You mourned the loss of your mother two years ago, when you first left, when you first faced the fact that you’d never see her again. You’ve already accepted she is gone, dealt with those emotions.”

“So, you’re saying I grieved already,” Draco said, understanding. “Two years ago. So being told she’s dead doesn’t make a significant difference, because I’d already relegated to myself that I’d never see her again. That she wasn’t part of my life anymore. I suppose that makes sense.” He smiled slightly. “For a moment, I was scared that I had become cold-hearted.”

Harry hugged his boyfriend. “You are one of the least cold-hearted people I know of, Draco.”

Draco blushed. “Thanks, Harry… er, sooooo, not to seem uncaring, but since that’s resolved, perhaps we might continue the discussion? Where does the vault go if there’s noone to claim it?”

“There’s not? What about you?” Harry asked. “Aren’t you next of kin?”

“Disowned, remember?”

“Why does that mean you can’t claim it? Sirius still got Grimmauld Place and the family money despite being disowned.”

“Ah, you are actually incorrect on that,” Dumbledore told Harry. “Sirius inherited the house because wizarding family homes are bound by magic related to familial blood, thus pass on that way, down through the male line, unless explicitly stated by the owner, regardless of disownment. Sirius’s mother failed to name a specific person in her will to inherit the home, assuming that after declaring him disowned the house’s familial magic would pass it onto one of her nieces. However, the house chose her son, for mere words do not change your blood. The money, however, he did not get-- the money he currently has was inherited from his great-uncle, who took sympathy on him. Gringotts is very strict about their vaults, and they have lists of succession for each one, which is only trumped by a written will, as the house is too. Warburgia removed Sirius from that list, thus when she died, the next on it-- Bellatrix, her favorite niece-- inherited her Gringotts fortune.”

Draco nodded. “Yes, exactly. My father wrote me off the Malfoy succession list, too, so I have no access to the Malfoy vaults, which includes the one with the horcrux.”

“So then who do they go to?” Harry wondered. “The Ministry?”

“No, Gringotts itself keeps it,” Dumbledore said. “Which makes things trickier…”

“Oh!” Harry realized something. “Draco, you get the Manor now! The family blood magic says so.”

Draco blinked. “That’s right, I do… and that’s where the Dark Lord made his base…”

“No, he has changed that,” Snape interjected. “He too has realized that you now have control over it, the house-elves, and the wards on it. He has moved to Crabbe’s place, who is more than eager to serve him, driven by desire to avenge his son, whom he blames Harry for killing.”

“What! I did no such thing! That was the Old One!”

“Yes, but you broke it from the bonds, hence indirectly caused the death, in Crabbe’s mind. He cannot kill the Old One, so has focused on you.”

“Great. Always nice to add to the list of those who want me dead.”

“So, back on topic…” Draco interrupted. “How will we get the horcrux?”

Dumbledore sighed. “I suppose we’ll have to break in…”

The three looked at him in surprise.

“You’re suggesting we… break in… to Gringotts.” Snape said in disbelief, seeming to finally accept that the old wizard might be a little further off his rocker than formerly thought.

“I do not see another way; the only other theoretical option is to ask the goblins for it, which I can already guarantee will do no good.”

“But, how?” Harry asked. “I could try to apparate in, but I doubt that would work-- apparating through Hogwarts’ wards is hard enough, and theirs are surely stronger.”

“Your compelling magic!” Draco gasped. “That’s how!”

Dumbledore sighed. “Yes, I suppose that’s the best option… though you must be better trained in it, first. Severus, might you help with that, during your class? I believe it is similar to a branch of legilimency, albeit slightly stronger, so should fit right in. Once you are strong enough in it, Harry, we can use it to sneak in. Pretend to go to your vault, then have the goblin take you instead to the one with the cup.”

Harry sighed. “You make it sound so simple...”

Snape shook his head. “No. We cannot wait for more training. The Dark Lord will surely be plotting to acquire it, as well, and he will surely use much more unscrupulous methods.”

Harry frowned. “But my compelling ability is just as bad, isn’t it? It’s basically the imperious, isn’t it?”

Dumbledore smiled. “No, Harry. The imperius controls a person’s mind completely, making them a puppet, whereas the type of compelling magic you use merely influences it, making suggestions that people had a chance of already doing. It’s the magic I use when I request students in the Great Hall quiet down for an announcement. They do so, but only because they would have been likely to do so anyway. It brings forth the option you want as the one most desirable to them.”

Harry shook his head. “I’m sorry, sir, but that’s not what it is. The first time I used it, I told the Minister to stop questioning me and leave, which he did. There would have been no chance of him wanting to do so before then. I added that option, and made him do it.”

“No, I believe he would have dropped the questioning anyway-- he knew he was getting nowhere with it.”

“Actually, he didn’t.” Harry remained adamant. “He was in the middle of speaking when I said to drop it, and he entirely forgot what he had just said and took my next suggestion to leave, saying he understood that I’d made my decision and he wouldn’t try to change it anymore. He’s not the type of person to usually let that drop.”

“Well, perhaps you’re giving him too little credit…”

“No, I’m not. This wasn’t the type of influencing magic you’re speaking of. This is commanding. It doesn’t merely make a choice look more desirable; it makes them think there was no other option to begin with.”

“Harry, I’m sure--”

“No, there’s more. I can use it to make people forget. I also accidentally used it to make people stop speaking-- and they clearly did not want to. They tried to speak, wanted to speak, but no sound came out; that was clearly not a choice I brought forwards, but a command they were forced to follow. Like house-elves.”

“They were aware of this occurrence while it happened?”

“Yes. I just wanted them to be quiet, not change their mind as with the Minister. Luckily, it was just my friends this happened with. But it was distinctly different than the kind you use.”

“Yet if they were aware, it is different than the imperius, don’t you see? They do not become a puppet; they are aware!”

Harry sighed. Dumbledore was being stubborn again. “If you say so.”

“Harry,” Snape was frowning. “You mentioned you could make people forget things. Did you perhaps do this to me before?”

Harry widened his eyes briefly, then regained his composure-- hopefully Snape hadn’t seen that. “No. Why would you think that?” he lied.

Snape narrowed his eyes. “There was an incident last year when I lost time. I was teaching a first-year class, then ended up in my office, no recollection of what had occurred. The first-years, half of which were in the hospital wing due to typical expelliarmus-learning-induced injuries, claimed that--” Snape frowned. He tried to say something again, but no sound. “Why can I not speak about what they claimed?”

“Shit!” Harry swore. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize it was that powerful, and covered that much! I didn’t intend to do it, I swear. I was asking you not to tell anyone, and put some force behind it accidentally… then, when you said you had to, I said something along the lines of ‘please, just forget this happened!’ and you did. I then panicked and ran.”

“I was there, too,” Draco added. “Essentially, Harry was drunk again, we came by your classroom to ask if you had the squill-free sobering draught ready, you brought us to the office while leaving Ron and Neville to supervise the first-years, and then we got in that argument which ended in what Harry said happened.”

Dumbledore looked at Harry curiously. “You’re saying you influenced the mind of an occlumens that can fool the Dark Lord while you were drunk?”

“Er. Pretty much.”

“Brilliant!” Dumbledore clapped his hands together, and everyone looked at him in surprise. “This means you do not need much practice! We will go this weekend.”

 

*******

 

Draco, Harry, and Dumbledore stood outside Gringotts. “Now, you know the plan?” Dumbledore asked, for the tenth time.

“Yes, we know,” Harry assured the man. “Go in to get money from my own vault, on the way convince the goblin to open the vault with the cup, then return here with both.”

“It still sounds way too easy. You sure they won’t catch on?” Draco questioned.

“No. The goblins own the vault, thus a goblin removing something from it should not activate any traps. Now, go on, then.”

“But, what if I can’t do it?” Harry asked. “I’m still so inexperienced with it!”

“Harry,” Dumbledore said kindly. “You’ve been practicing for the past few days. I know you can do it.”

Harry sighed. “If you say so… okay, Draco, let’s go.”

The two vampires turned to enter the bank, then froze. “They have those probe things now,” Harry hissed.

Draco looked at Harry, confused, then let out a chuckle when he realized what Harry meant. “Those aren’t the dark object ones Filch uses; they’re probity-probes, used to detect concealment, and we’re not hiding anything.”

“Oh, okay. No need to worry, then.” Harry and Draco walked up to the goblins. As the probe reached higher up, a little light blinked red, and the goblin looked at him suspiciously. 

“What are you hiding?” The goblin asked.

“What?” Harry asked, confused. “Nothing.”

“You are hiding something.”

Then, Harry realized-- the enchanted contacts and retainer hid their vampiric eyes and teeth, and the probe had detected that. “I’m not hiding anything,” Harry said, putting force behind the words. The goblin blinked a few times.

“You aren’t hiding anything,” the goblin parrotted. “You may pass.”

Luckily, the one checking Draco had been checking someone else first, so Draco had enough time to catch how it had detected Harry only moments before the goblin reached his face. He had only used it a few times, and wasn’t nearly on the same level as Harry-- in fact, for all he knew, the times he had done so were flukes-- but tried using the commanding tone anyway. “You’ve finished checking.” The goblins accepted this, and Draco followed Harry into the bank, relieved that his boyfriend had also escaped detection.

“That was brilliant,” Harry praised Draco, in a low whisper only they could hear, as they waited in line at the counter. “Have you been practicing?”

“No,” Draco said in wonder. “I didn’t even know if I could; the few times I’d used it before had all been unintentional. I’m certain it’s nowhere near as strong as yours, though.”

“Well, mine wasn’t very refined at first, either. You’ll get better.”

“You commanded the Minister, who is an ex-auror.”

“I suppose… but hey, I’m sure you’ll reach that level someday too!”

“Harry, you have abilities from directly absorbing the cosmic magic after draining a tremendous amount of blood. Mine’s simply secondhand from drinking your blood on occasion.”

“True, but--”

“How may I help you?” asked the goblin in a bored voice, then looked up. “Ah, Mister Potter! It is unusual to see a student this time of year. And the young Malfoy boy… hmm, you wouldn’t be here due to your mother dying, would you? Because unfortunately, your name was removed from the list of inheritors to the account…”

“I am aware of this,” Draco stated tersely. “We are here for Harry’s vault; he has been helping me with funds.”

“Ah, I see. Very noble of you, Mister Potter.” The goblin did not actually think such, if Harry read the aura right. He recalled something Bill once told him about goblins disproving of how often wizards freely shared their money with those not in their families.

The goblin reviewed Harry’s wand for identification, grabbed a set of keys, and led them into the bank where a cart waited.

“I think there’s something inside to detect concealment, too,” Draco muttered, so low only Harry could hear. “Thief's downfall, or something.”

“We’ll just have remove them, then,” Harry whispered.

“But vampires aren’t permitted to hold vaults here…”

“What are you whispering about?” the goblin asked, clearly suspicious.

Harry looked him in the eyes. “You will see our eyes and teeth as those of a human,” he told the goblin, whose eyes glazed over.

“You are human…” he replied, and made no sign of noticing when Harry and Draco removed the contacts and retainers.

They got into the cart and travelled to Harry’s vault. Harry handed Draco a small bag of galleons to keep up pretenses, then commanded the goblin to take them to the former Lestrange vault.

The goblin merely looked slightly confused. “You wish to go to the Lestrange vault?” he asked, a little dazed, though clearly aware it was an odd request.

“You will take us there,” Harry commanded again.

“I will take you there…” The goblin led them deep into the bowels of the bank… then stopped when they came across an ancient sleeping dragon, skin of peeling pale pink scales that perhaps had been much brighter once, and eyes a milky pink color-- it was blind. “I forgot the clankers…” the goblin’s eyes widened.

Harry’s heart raced. “We can walk around it…”

“No!” The goblin hissed. “We can’t-- why are we here, anyway? This is not even near your vault!”

“But this is the way you led us,” Harry said innocently.

The goblin did not believe such. “You are trying to enter the former Malfoy vault, aren’t you? You do not have inheritance rights!”

“Take us to the vault,” Harry commanded again, beginning to panic.

“Yes… wait, no… what…?”

Harry closed his eyes. This wasn’t working enough. “Imperio,” he whispered, pointing his wand at the goblin. A strange tingling warmth shot through him, and he felt a connection to the goblin’s mind. He added the commanding voice, for good measure. “You will take us to the Lestrange vault in spite of the dragon.”

Draco stared Harry in befuddled awe, about to say something, yet then a snafu appeared-- the dragon had woken up, and seemed to be looking at the group curiously. Well, listening, and smelling, Harry supposed, as it was blind. Harry could feel the imperio slipping, and renewed the spell with even more will-- you had to mean it, after all, to use an unforgivable.

“[I have not sensed magic such as yours in more than a millenium]” the dragon stated.

“[You can speak to us?]” Draco asked in surprise. “[I didn’t know dragons could.]”

Harry gasped, noting the material and runes around the cuffs holding the dragon. “[You’re an Old One, aren’t you? What’s your name?]” 

“[How can you be one such as yourself without knowing such?]” The dragon was curious, not indignant, Harry was relieved to see. “[My name is Shaurash-Ho.]”

“[I’m Harry, and this is Draco. We’ve only recently acquired cosmic magic,]” Harry told them. “[Nyarlathotep has helped us manage, but there’s still a lot we don’t know.]”

“[We didn’t expect to find you here,]” Draco added.

“[Oh, I see… so you have not come in search for me… I thought, perhaps, since you bear the protection of Azathoth... well, while you are here, is it possible to free me? I have been chained here so long…]”

“[We will,]” Draco promised. “[But, before making your escape, would you let us retrieve the item we came for?]”

“[May I eat the goblin? I am very hungry.]”

“[Er. We need him to open the vault, so the traps don’t activate.]”

“[After such?]”

“[We need him to return, too…]”

“[Ah… a pity… very well, though. I do not know why you, like Nyarlathotep, like to play at living amongst the vile wizards, but I will not cause trouble for you.]” 

“[Thank you,]” Harry told the Old One. “[I’ll unlock you first, in case something goes wrong.]”

The dragon-like creature shook the cuff, which Harry approached. He could now see that it was mythril inset with multiple colors of corundum in various runes. It was ancient-- the Old One might have been there since the founding of the bank. However, it was a simple lock-and-key mechanism, so did not require actually breaking-- in fact, alohomora worked. Harry supposed no one really thought that someone would actually try to free the creature, hence did not bother with more secure locking charms.

Miraculously, the goblin was still under the imperius. Harry had him open the Lestrange vault, and retrieve the cup for them; Harry could sense the magic in it well. The vault was closed and they went to leave… only to discover another pair of Death Eaters heading over to the vault with another clearly imperiused goblin.

“Bloody hell. Seriously?” Draco whined. “Of all times…”

“Do you know them?” Harry asked, from the shadows they stood in. “I don’t recognize them. I can feel they have the marks though.”

Draco narrowed his eyes. “No. I think they’re new recruits.”

Once the other group was close to the vault, Harry and Draco darted over to Shaurash-Ho and told them about what was going on. The Old One smiled. “[I can eat them, then? I haven’t eaten in so long…]”

“[...Yes, you can eat them,]” Harry acquiesced. It wasn’t the ideal solution, but the creature was hungry.

Unfortunately, at that moment, many goblins appeared, apparently alerted to the fact that the Death Eaters were in the vault. Harry rolled his eyes. Seems the idiots had gone in themselves rather than asking the goblin to. Thinking fast, Harry changed into his female form, just in case someone recognized him, and grabbed Draco. 

“[Can you get us out of here?]” Harry asked Shaurash-Ho.

“[Of course. Hop on.]” The Old One bared its back for the two vampires, and they hopped on amid flying spells from the Death Eaters-- whom had seen them with the cup-- and began flying. Soon they were joined by daggers thrown by the goblins.

“[Hold on, I think I can get us to the Dreamlands from here…]” Harry muttered, focusing on his apparition.

While Harry focused, Draco was hit by something, and flew off of the Old One, back into the battle below. At the same time, the Old One blew a fierce burst of fire, and shot straight through the ceiling as Harry managed to apparate.

Harry soared through clear blue skies on the back of Shaurash-Ho; they had made it to the Dreamlands. Harry returned to male form, and turned to Draco… who wasn’t there.

“You have brought us to the Dreamlands!” the Old One declared with glee. “It is much appreciated-- I do not wish to return to the wretched world of Earth ever again… Harry? Is something the matter?”

“I… it’s Draco, he is still back there, and I cannot return via apparition for a while.”

“I am sure he will be fine. He is much stronger than any human or goblin.”

“Alone, yes, but there were a lot there!”

“You underestimate him, I believe.”

“I’ve known him for much longer than you,” Harry countered. “You only just met us.”

“Yes. Therefore, I am not blinded by affection. You both see in each other someone you must protect. I see two cosmic vampires who are strong in their own rights. He will be fine.”

“Cosmic… vampires…?”

“You are vampires with cosmic magic, therefore cosmic vampires, correct?”

“I-- yes, I suppose. I’ve just never heard that term used before.”

“Because I made it up. But it is the most fitting name for it.”

“Yes, it does seem to be… hey, there’s a pier! Could you drop me off there? I can get the White Ship to take me back to Earth.”

“Very well.” The Old One landed in a meadow which a wide river ran through, a pier jutting out into it. Harry dismounted.

“Thank you,” Harry told them.

“It is the least I can do for the one who freed me. If you or Draco ever need any help with anything, I will do what I can.” Shaurah-Ho flew off, and Harry was left to stand on the pier waiting.

A panpipe sounded nearby. Harry turned to look. It was such soothing music; where was it coming from? He began feeling a little lightheaded, drowsy, even. But wait, vampires don’t sleep… Harry shook his head, blinking it away. The music was still so calming, though… Ugh, why had a twig snap have to interrupt?

Harry gasped in realization, turning towards the sound. But before he could make out much of the figure clad in a blood-colored coat, he felt a sharp pain on his head, and all went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Harry's in trouble! Who has captured him? What do they want? How will Draco save him?
> 
>  
> 
> Expect it in two days' time!


	13. The Moon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> " It was a stupendous sight while the torches lasted, and Carter had never before seen so many cats. Black, grey, and white; yellow, tiger, and mixed; common, Persian, and Manx; Thibetan, Angora, and Egyptian; all were there in the fury of battle, and there hovered over them some trace of that profound and inviolate sanctity which made their goddess great in the temples of Bubastis. They would leap seven strong at the throat of an almost-human or the pink tentacled snout of a toad-thing and drag it down savagely to the fungous plain, where myriads of their fellows would surge over it and into it with the frenzied claws and teeth of a divine battle-fury. "  
> \--H.P. Lovecraft, excerpt from "The Dreamquest of Unknown Kadath"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for this chapter in advance. It is brutal. The parts about how they go about rescuing Harry are fine, but the in-between parts where it shows what Harry's going through might be somewhat tough to read.
> 
> Warning for heavy torture and implied rape with an object. If you wish to avoid this, there are two options: read the summary at the end, or skip the parts with Harry-- this is written as a series of short scenes switching between Draco and Harry, so if you read every other scene starting with the first you'll avoid reading the torture parts.

“We have to find him!” Draco pleaded with Dumbledore. 

“Draco, Harry will be fine,” Dumbledore consoled him.

“But he apparated there uncontrolled; he could have ended up anywhere the Dreamlands!” 

“Draco. He’ll be back shortly, I am sure. If the dragon is amicable to him, as you say, it will help him find a pier so that he can return.”

“That’s just it! It’s been hours! Hours here is days over there! It shouldn’t be taking him days to get back!”

During the incident at Gringotts, Draco had somehow managed to, despite-- or maybe because of-- his panicked state, use the empowering voice to convince the Death Eaters that they had brought one more person with them, and upon entering Gringotts and seeing Harry and Draco, formed an impromptu plan to capture the boys. However, once things had gone sour, one of the Death Eaters-- a female with long dark hair-- had gone rogue, freeing the dragon and leaping onto its back with an unconscious Harry and Draco in tow. The story somehow was confirmed under veritaserum, to Draco’s wonder-- though perhaps that made sense, since the Death Eaters truly believed that was the truth. Dumbledore was there to vouch for Draco and Harry having no part in it, but Draco allowed them to give him veritaserum as well, just to completely solidify the story-- after all, vampires weren’t affected by such. Thusly, the story was accepted by the Ministry as undeniable fact.

“Draco, I’m sure it’ll all be fine. Relax.” Snape said, walking into Dumbledore’s office.

“How am I supposed to relax?!” Draco held his wrist out. “My bracelet has been stinging constantly the past few hours!”

“Your bracelet?” Dumbledore frowned. “It’s connected to Harry?”

“Yes, he has one just like it. If one of us is in trouble, the other’s bracelet will react.”

“But it could be emotional trouble, too, correct?” Snape butted in. “So if it’s merely a soft sting, it’s probably because he is worrying for you-- after all, when he left, you were in a battle.”

“I suppose that could be true… it is, as you say, just a tingle, not-- uagh!” Draco clenched his wrist in pain, pulling it to his chest and closing his eyes. It was brief, but Draco saw a flash of red light and what appeared to be a dungeon. Draco’s eyes opened wide. “Fuck! We have to-- uagh!”

 

*******

 

Harry opened his eyes to darkness, though there was still a faint enough light for him to see by. He was sitting against a wall in a tiny room, his arms held above him by some sort of cuffs, which stung; looking up, he noticed a faint red hue to them, with runes carved in. He tugged at them, hard, jangling the chains against the wall, but nothing happened.

“They won’t come off,” a voice said, and Harry winced as a bright light appeared-- a doorway. Someone walked through, and the door closed. “See all those runes? They’re specifically made to inhibit the abilities of magic creatures.”

Harry tried to stand up, yet his legs were weak, and he collapsed back down almost immediately. He realized he had been stripped of his clothes.

“Oh, it also physically weakens you considerably.” The cloaked figure shrugged. “An unexpected side-effect for some creatures, but certainly a useful one.”

“Who are you?” Harry spat. “What do you want with me?”

“Come now, do you really think I’d tell you?”

“You’re human, and have me chained up and helpless, at your mercy. All the cliches say you will.”

“Well, I won’t.” The person-- female, it seemed-- cackled.

“Fine then. How did you capture me? You must have had help. Are you with Voldemort?”

“Oh, what, does the little beast think that mere humans cannot tame it? Thinks we’d need the help of whatever this Voldemort creature is? Well, we’ll prove you wrong; of that, I can assure you.” She held up an intricately-carved staff with a glowing red orb on top, pointing it at him.

“What, you think some glittery rod will scare-- uagh!” Harry curled up in pain as a beam shot into him from the orb. It reminded him of the cruciatus curse, but amplified ten times over.

“Oh, such a snarky little thing. This will be fun.” The person shot another beam at Harry; the pain was so intense that he blacked out.

 

*******

 

“Draco? Draco, what’s wrong?” Snape called, shaking the blonde’s shoulder.

“He’s in a dungeon somewhere,” Draco gasped. “Someone’s hurting him.”

“Hurting him? You mean… torture?”

Draco nodded, eyes stinging with tears.

Dumbledore’s eyes steeled. “Then we must find him immediately. Draco, how can we get there?”

“For a human? You happen across a door in your dreams, or go through a gateway. Oh, and there’s dark rituals, too, but I doubt you’d do those.”

“And those are the only ways?” Dumbledore asked. “Then how, pray tell, did you and Harry get there before? From my understanding, you went a fair few times before you learned about the apparition.”

Draco looked hesitant for a bit, then decided he might as well tell them. “Before Harry could apparate there, we would use a lucid-dreaming draught variant.”

Snape and Dumbledore stared at him in surprise.

“But, we don’t use it anymore!” Draco clarified, before either could respond. "Besides, it wouldn’t work the same way for humans-- you’d still have to find steps within your dream. We only went straight there because we don’t normally sleep.”

“Then I suppose we must research where possible gates are,” Dumbledore mused. “I believe in the past you said Lake Michigan had one in it? And the bermuda triangle? Is there any others you know of?”

Draco shifted his feet in unease. “Well, no, but… well, I know how we can find out.” They would be shocked and outraged, Draco knew. It was for Harry’s sake, though, so he had to…

“And how would that be?” Snape asked contritely. 

Draco took a deep breath, a habitual calming method. “There’s a certain book that has a chapter which outlines where they are.”

Dumbledore looked at Draco peculiarly. “I have done much research lately, yet have not found any book that mentions such.”

“It… it wouldn’t be one you’d be willing to go near…” Draco clenched his bracelet; it had burned again, this time worse.

“If it helps save Harry, I am willing to give it a look. Do you have this book?”

“...Yes. I’ll go get it.” Draco moved to leave the room.

“Wait,” Snape called, voice heavy with suspicion. “What is the name of the book?”

“You already know.”

 

*******

 

Harry clenched his fists and kept his eyes closed as a piercing pain slid over his bare skin.

“Aww, why won’t you scream for me?” the cloaked woman said teasingly, as she dragged the ruby dagger across the skin, tracing patterns. “Or perhaps…” she whispered, “you’re enjoying this?”

“You wish,” Harry said, through clenched teeth. He was not going to give the sadistic bitch the satisfaction of having him scr-- “AUUGH!” Harry’s voice betrayed him as the woman drove the blade deep into his leg.

“Now, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” The woman grinned at him as though he were prey, looking him right in the eyes. This was the first time he had seen her face, despite being here for many days already-- well, as far as he could tell, as the place he was in-- a dungeon, definitely a dungeon, for he could hear other prisoners screaming at times-- had no windows. Her irises were a vivid red.

“Is that your real eye color?” Harry asked curiously.

“What?” The woman seemed to have been thrown off briefly, though retained her glare. “Yes, it is!”

Harry grinned. She was lying. Her aura was easy to read; the cuffs hadn’t dimmed that ability. “Oh, is it? Hmm. I think not. Did you wear them with the intention of scaring me? Because if so, it’s a waste; I’m friends with a demon whose eyes are fully red: irises, pupils, cornea, the whole deal.”

The woman merely twisted the blade still immersed in Harry’s thigh, causing him to wince in pain once more. “I’ll find what makes you tick, yet,” she hissed, and walked off, leaving the blade in his thigh.

 

*******

 

“Here is is,” Draco said flatly, placing the book on Dumbledore’s desk, eliciting a gasp from the older wizard.

“Where did you get this?” Snape demanded. “I thought it had been burned!”

“Why would you burn such a lovely book?” Luna asked innocently. Well, not-so-innocently. She knew they thought it was dark.

Dumbledore sighed. “Luna, this is not a lovely book. The Necronomicon is the darkest book of all dark books. I thought you would have learned that after the failed ritual you performed from it two years ago…”

“But the ritual worked as expected. It’s not all fault the wrong thing was sealed in the temple.”

“Wrong thing or not, it was still a dark ritual… Luna, you ought to get rid of it. Nothing good will come from this book.” Dumbledore presented a calm demeanor, but his aura was wracked with worry.

“Yes, it will. It has many secrets of the Old Ones and their magic. It is very enlightening.”

Snape’s eyes narrowed. “You’ve read it?”

“Why, yes. I just had finished reading when Draco came to find it. Draco, I found a part I think you’d really enjoy, a section on potions that can--”

“Miss Lovegood, that is enough, please,” Dumbledore stated calmly, yet with a distinct air of finality.

“Why are you so upset?” Luna wondered.

“Aaah!” Draco gasped again, clutching the bracelet. “Please, Luna, you finished reading; is there any useful ways to get into the Dreamlands other than through sleep that don’t involve sacrificial rituals or traversing dangerous places?”

Luna looked at Draco curiously. “Can’t you use the potion?”

“No, Dumbledore wants to go too. Harry is in trouble.”

“Then why don’t you contact Nyarlathotep? I’m sure he can help.”

“Luna, we don’t have any Nyx…”

Luna quirked her head in confusion. “But you don’t need it?”

“What are you talking about??”

“Why, your collar, of course. Can that not call him?”

“The collar…? Oh! Right!”

 

*******

 

The woman placed something heavy next to her as she kneeled in front of Harry. She had returned again, after leaving him for many hours-- or was it days? Harry gasped in pain as she finally pulled out the knife. “Wh-what are you going to try, this time?” Harry asked shakily. He cringed at how weak that had sounded; he was aiming for defiant, not scared, even if he was quite terrified.

The woman sneered. Her eyes were a deep brown; seems she had foregone the colored contacts this time. “Eager, are we?” She turned to what was next to her-- a little cauldron, it appeared to be, though from the sound it made when being placed it must have had something very heavy in it. She slowly set up a small burner with a stand, lit the burner-- a magical fire, Harry could sense-- and then placed the cauldron on it. 

Harry eyed the cauldron warily. The woman stirred it slowly, until something very thick could be heard boiling within.

She turned towards Harry, lifting up the wooden spoon she had been stirring with. What appeared to be a shimmering blood-colored lava dripped slowly from the spoon back into the cauldron. “Liquified rubies,” the woman whispered, then moved closer.

Harry’s heart raced and his eyes widened. No. No way. “Please don’t!” He begged, as he squirmed in an effort to get away, but the cuffs still held him firmly to the wall, and he was too weak to do much. He screamed in agony as just a few drops of the liquid seared down his shoulder.

 

*******

 

“Why have you called me here?” Nyarlathotep demanded, again in his tall tentacled shadow-person form. Draco supposed he must feel that was the most intimidating of his forms that could fit inside a room.

“Harry is missing,” Draco quickly answered. “He went to the Dreamlands accidentally, and hasn’t returned, and my bracelet-- whis is connected to one he has-- keeps searing to show he’s in pain, occasionally giving me glimpses of some dungeon.”

“Show me.” Nyarlathotep put his tentacle-hand on Draco’s forehead. “Ah. Yes, I know this place well. It’s a dungeon on one of the moons. Probably best to get him out of there; those people can be vicious.”

“Did you say a moon?!” Dumbledore stood up and glared at Nyarlathotep. “Not the same moon YOU once trapped someone on, is it?”

Nyarlathotep transformed into the female form with too-wide mouth and eyes that reflected the galaxy, just in order to raise an eyebrow. “And where, pray tell, did you hear about that?”

Dumbledore wandlessly summoned a book. “In here.” Somehow, he managed to hold his glare despite Nyarlathotep’s returning glare.

Nyarlathotep laughed, a scathing cackle. “Ah, yes, Randolph Carter’s book about his journey through the Dreamlands. There may be some bias in that. Apparently, he did not take to my teasing well, and decided I wanted to kill him. But by no means is that the case! I do not engage in meaningless slaughter. There’s no fun in teasing someone if they die. No, I merely meant to scare him, to play around.”

“Via locking him in some dungeon?”

Nyarlathotep’s voice was an uncharacteristic shrieking hiss. “That was not my doing! Those creatures betrayed me. I only meant to slightly frighten him, but then they took him and wouldn’t give him back! And I, the great Crawling Chaos, avatar of the Universe, could not do a thing about it because of their stupid wards! I even allowed them to work with the men of Leng for centuries, but then they turned around and enslaved them! And recently they’ve been daring to steal more of my creatures to use for their own entertainment!” She stomped her foot in annoyance. “If I could get past those wards, I would destroy the entire place, with every wretched creature in it! Well, except for the ones they stole, of course.”

The three others in the room had backed up in slight terror. Having what was essentially a god lose its cool, so to speak, in front of you was a very disconcerting thing to happen.

Nyarlathotep seemed to calm, or at least present an air of such. “The rest of the account in the book is fairly accurate, particularly the means of how Carter got there and returned. Draco, you and Harry are on good terms with the cats, just as Carter was; so the cats I’m sure would be happy to take you there from Dylath-Leen, and will take care of most the cruel beings there. Just beware of the cats from Saturn.”

“And you cannot retrieve Harry yourself, why?” Snape asked.

“Did you not just hear him say that they have wards?” Luna queried.

“Can we just go soon, please?” Draco begged, clutching his wrist tightly. “He’s in pain…”

 

*******

 

_“So you think you can tell… heaven from hell… blue skies from pain… can you tell a green field… from a cold steel rail?... A smile from a veil?... Do you think you can tell?”_

“And just what is that wretched noise you are making?” The woman appeared in front of Harry; he hadn’t even realized she had come in. How long had it been? Minutes? Days? His limbs were still covered in dried corundum, and he could barely move. If he had been human, he surely would be dead by now.

“Music,” Harry mumbled. Remembering the music soothed him. Helped him remember just who he had to stay alive for, of who was surely looking for him now…

“That scathing whisper is not music,” the woman chuckled. “Hmmm. You know, you earth vampires may not need to eat while here, but if you’re weak enough, you start to still crave it, don’t you? Blood? It helps you heal, correct? Well, I have some here…” the woman held out a vial. “If you’re good, perhaps I’ll let you have some…”

“And just what does being ‘good’ entail?” he whispered hoarsely.

The woman moved a hand across Harry’s chest, then under his chin to make him look at her. “There are some guests who require... entertainment.”

Harry gathered all the energy could, and spat in her face. “Find someone else to ‘entertain’ them.”

“Hmph. You are a stubborn one.” She stabbed a knife into his thigh, once again leaving it there, then sauntered out of the cell. “Let’s see, who shall I choose then…”

Harry barely registered the knife’s pain. “Draco, where are you?” he whispered, with the lightness of a breath.

 

*******

 

“Are you trying to say you all want to go?” Nyarlathotep raised an eyebrow.

“That is the general idea.”

“And just how do you plan to get there, then? Man may only enter in dreams or via gates.”

“Yet Harry transported me there,” Dumbledore said pointedly.

Draco glared at Dumbledore. “At near cost of his life!”

“I do not know how he did that,” Nyarlathotep admitted simply, no hint of emotion. “In all eternity, there has not been any being who could freely bring a human there in such a manner. No, I’m afraid Draco is the only one who can go with me, and only he can then continue on to the moon.”

“But Harry can take me now, with ease,” Luna announced. “If he can, you can. Or are you saying he is more powerful than you in that regards?”

Nyarlathotep narrowed her eyes. “Is that a challenge? Hmph. Fine, you are correct: I can take you too. You are a crafty one.”

“Yay!” Luna cheered, grabbing onto the annoyed Outer God.

“Meow!” Selardi called defiantly, jumping suddenly onto Draco’s shoulder.

“Ah, yes, and Death’s servant may come too, of course. Let us go.” Nyarlathotep placed a tentacled hand on Draco’s other shoulder, and they appeared on the outskirts of Ulthar.

 

*******

 

_“Hello darkness my old friend… I’ve come to talk with you again… because a vision softly creeping… left its seeds while I was sleeping…”_

Harry vaguely noted the woman had once again returned. He kept singing, pretending she wasn’t there.

“and the vision that was planted in my brain… still remains… within the sound of silence…”

“Okay, that’s it. No more ‘singing’ for you.” She grabbed Harry’s hair, pulling his head backwards and shoved something in his mouth. “There. Your screams won’t be the same with a gag, but at least I don’t need to hear that wretched noise anymore.”

 

*******

 

“Selardi, help me find the cat commanders!” Draco instructed, and Selardi obliged. Soon, three extremely tough-looking cats appeared. Draco became a cat, too-- still not a full-grown one, to his ire, but at least no longer a small kitten-- and Luna became a jackalope; they set off for the basalt-spires behind the nearby city of Dylath-Leen, where the jump to the moon could be made.

 

*******

 

The woman’s foot kicked out, smack into Harry’s crotch. He cried out in pain-- well, as much as he could in the gag-- and his eyes watered. “Ah, so there’s a pain you do not seem so accustomed to yet.” She pressed into it harder. Her shoes seemed to have spikes on them, clearly worn for doing exactly this. Harry felt a trickle of blood. “Now, will you be a good little boy and follow our wishes? If you do, you’ll be rewarded rather than punished.” She held out the vial of blood again.

Harry turned his head away in defiance.

“Hmph. Perhaps another method is in order.” The woman left.

 

*******

 

Draco, Luna, and the cats, after making the jump, flew through the emptiness of space. Except, it was not empty-- there were multitudes of strange shapeless things, some tentacled, some with slimy paws reaching out; to a human, they would appear black, but Draco, Luna, and the other cats could make out the multitude of strange colours they presented in. They were the cosmic spawn of the Outer Gods, mindless larvae and scraps of beings that perhaps someday would develop into something more, perhaps not. A human would surely find such utterly grotesque and horrifying, but Draco somehow found them soothing.

Soon, the moon came into view, and the cats descended. There were hundreds of them; as they had travelled from Ulthar to Dylath-Leen, the legion had grown, word spreading that their savior and friend was in trouble. They could not let Harry suffer; they must save him. Thus, their initial group of fifty ended up hextupling in size to bear over three hundred, Draco, Luna, and Selardi at the lead.

 

*******

 

“Ah, yes, you seem nice and submissive now…” The woman seemed proud at Harry’s lack of energy, until she met Harry’s eyes. “Hm. No, there’s still fight in your eyes. That must be squashed. Our collection of creatures just won’t be complete without a cosmic vampire, after all.” The woman smiled cruelly. “And I think I know just how to do it.” She held up a short thick rod covered in spines. Probably corundum as well; everything she used seemed to be. “Do you know what this is for?”

Harry looked at it with unease. He honestly had no idea, which couldn’t mean anything good.

“I’ll give you a hint: it goes INTO something…” 

 

*******

 

The cats and jackalope arrived on the moon, and then headed straight towards a towering grey city. As they entered the city, the headed for the towering spire which held captives. The creatures who inhabited the city began desperately scrambling around as they saw them. The cats had been here before, after all, and it had not ended well, as they had learned in legends. The inhabitants there were a mix of things, all distinctly not human. What seemed to be the commanding race were eerie white globular creatures that looked vaguely toad-shaped, but with no eyes and multiple pink feelers at the ends of what could be a snout. They waddled around, pulsing and throbbing, commanding short impish-like creatures and stout pitch-black human-like creatures, the only difference being a ridge of spines around their heads and pointed ears. The latter were in chains, clearly slaves, although the impish creatures seemed like they weren’t treated much better. Periodically, there would be humans dressed in crimson robes, seemingly of the same rank as the blob-creatures.

The cats attacked only the blob-creatures and humans, leaving the servants unless one tried to attack. The cats were utterly merciless; the creatures stood no chance as they were torn to shreds, seven or so cats leaping upon each before moving on, green ooze lining the streets. Those made nary a sound as they died, but the humans sure did. Draco, Luna, and Selardi led the fray along with the three cat generals. They would rescue Harry no matter what-- 

The entire army of cats froze. Their prey had either been killed or was fleeing, but in front of them stood a formidable foe: the strange and twisted cats from Saturn, the only foe the cats of the Earth’s Dreamlands feared. They charged, and the earthly cat army met them with equal vigor. The fray was brutal; there were half as many saturnly cats, yet they were twice the size. Both sides’ numbers were falling fast.

The cat generals gestured to Draco, and Selardi to go take a platoon to find Harry while they finished up the battle, and the two cats complied while Luna aided the fight against the saturnal cats, brutally stabbing with her antlers, kicking them with powerful hind legs, and ripping into them with razor teeth.

 

*******

 

“Aww, are you bleeding from uncomfortable places? Do you need blood to heal yourself?” the woman teased, waiving a vial of blood in the air as she caressed Harry with the corundum knife, digging it in deep, making sure to avoid the trails of corundum that had been left after dripping the molten substance on him so as not to knock them off. The places with it still stung, though Harry barely noticed it under the pain coming from his rear. “Well, you can’t have any unless you fully submit!” She twisted the knife around as she moved it across Harry’s skin. 

Harry had his head turned away, silent tears streaming down his face. His wounds weren’t healing as fast as they would have with a normal knife; Harry found himself wishing that they would cause him to bleed out, just to end this torture. Even death would be better than this. Maybe he should just submit; things couldn’t be much worse than this, could it?

Two fierce growls sounded from the door to the cell, and the woman swerved around. Harry opened his eyes and turned his head to stare at them. Could it be? Draco and Selardi?

“Cats!” The woman hissed, stepping backwards, to Harry’s surprise. She was afraid of two cats?

No, more cats were entering now. Ten, twenty, thirty… They swarmed the woman at Draco and Selardi’s joint command. Harry turned away. There had been rumors of the cats’ brutality towards their enemies, legends of what had happened in Ulthar long ago, but seeing it was a whole different thing. By the end, nothing was left of the woman but a pile of bones and a blood-soaked robe.

“Harry!” Draco called, springing out of his cat form and clutching at the cuffs. “Keys, I need keys!” As he turned to run off, Selardi came running in with a pair of keys in her mouth. Draco grabbed them, thanking her profusely, and kneeled in front of Harry, unlocking the cuffs and grabbing onto Harry before he could slump onto the floor. Harry winced, and Draco pulled the gag out of his boyfriend’s mouth.

“Draco… you.. came…” Harry croaked, barely able to whisper it as he lay naked in his boyfriend’s arms.

“Shhh, don’t speak,” Draco told him. “We’re going to get you help, hang in there.” He shrugged his outer cloak off and wrapped Harry in it. “Here, have some blood,” He pressed his wrist into Harry’s fangs, and Harry drank weakly, though only managed a few sips before giving into his weariness and passing out completely, knowing he was safe now.

Draco raced out of the prison with his boyfriend as fast as he could, barely assessing the remains of the battle; the saturnal cats had been defeated, but only fifty of those from Earth’s Dreamlands had survived. Draco ran and ran. He still had so far to go! Would they make it in time? Selardi ran after him, eventually catching up and clamoring onto his shoulder. 

“Meow! Mew, meow!”

“What’s that, Selardi? Apparate? I can’t, not from here!”

“Meow.”

“...you’ll help? How?”

“Meow.”

“If you say so…” Draco focused desperately on the Hospital Wing, imagining himself back there; he suddenly skidded to a stop and abruptly turned.

Draco blinked in the bright light, allowing his eyes to adjust; it was a big change from the dim surface of the moon. He looked around. Yes, somehow he had made it! Details could be worried about later though. “Madam Pomfrey!” he called desperately.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary of chapter: Draco is in Dumbledore's office with Snape and Dumbledore. He's very worried about Harry being in the dreamlands alone, but the others say he'll be fine-- until Draco's bracelet begins shooting pain into him. Harry is captured in a dungeon. Rotates between short scenes of how Draco and Co. are trying to save Harry and short scenes showing Harry being tortured by some unknown female. While discussing how to get to Dreamlands, Draco remembers Necronomicon has ways to get there; reluctantly reveals this to Snape and Dumbledore, and retrives their copy, Luna following him back. Luna realizes they can contact Nyarlathotep via Draco's collar. The Outer God appears. Realize's Harry's on the moon, and goes on a rant about how the moon-people betrayed him in the past and are now collecting creatures to use for their own entertainment, and he can't do a thing because it's warded against him. Tells Draco the cats can help him, and goes to bring Draco only, claiming he's the only one he can transport, but then Luna calls him out, saying Harry can take her so that means Harry must be stronger-- Nyarlathotep then brings Luna, Draco, and Selardi to Ulthar. There, they go into their animagus forms and team up with the cats, who previously rescued someone from the moon. They run to Dylath-Leen, more cats joining them along the way, then jump to the moon when they reach the basalt pillars. They end up in a city with many strange creatures as well as a few humans who seem to be in charge along with the frog-beasts, the other creatures being slaves. The cats attack, brutally destroying the frogs and humans. Then, the cats from Saturn appear, who the cats and Luna fight while Draco, Luna, and Selardi take a group of cats to go to find Harry. Find him with the woman torturing him, cats devour the woman. Harry passes out when he sees Draco, and Draco, holding Harry, dashes away with Selardi. They note the cats won the battle, but have been reduced from over 300 to about 50. Draco is worried about Harry not making it, so Selardi suggests he apparates, and helps him do so, landing in the hospital wing.
> 
> \------------------------
> 
> If you're interested in that bit about the cats having rescued Randalph Carter from a similar situation, read "The Dreamquest of Unknown Kadath," a short story by H.P. Lovecraft (who else?); "The Cats of Ulthar" also show the brutality of the cats.
> 
> \-------------------------
> 
> Next time: People visit Harry, asking too many questions he'd rather not answer. Will he recover okay? Then, a quidditch match goes awry.
> 
> \-------------------------
> 
> Songs: "Wish you were here" by Pink Floyd and "Sounds of Silence" by Simon & Garfunkel


	14. Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slight warning for description on last chapter's incident in the first section. If you wish to avoid, skip from where Pomfrey asks what happened to the end of that section.

“Aaaaaaah!” Harry screamed as he woke, abruptly sitting up in the bed and gasping from the pain of doing so. Wait, bed? He was in a bed? Had the woman moved him to one? Why?

“Harry, it’s okay, I’m here!” Someone beside him called, grasping his hand. “You’re okay. You’re out of that place.”

“Meow.”

Harry turned to the voice. “Draco? Selardi? Where am I? This isn’t a dream, is it?” Harry still couldn’t do much more than whisper.

“No, not a dream,” Draco told Harry kindly, handing him his glasses. “The woman is gone. The entire city that captured you is gone, too, and the other captives freed as well-- they’re in the care of the cats. But the rest, the ones in charge of the awful city that captured you and other creatures, are all gone now.”

“Gone how?” Harry put on his glasses, and the Hospital Wing came into focus. He was wearing a pair of generic hospital pajamas.

“Gone as in utterly annihilated, thanks to the cats.”

Harry’s eyes grew wide as he recalled. “That woman-- she was eaten?”

Draco cringed. “Yeah. I, er, wasn’t expecting them to be quite that brutal. Seems their reputation precedes them.”

“I don’t care what happened to her; she’s gone forever, that’s all that matters.”

Draco suddenly hugged Harry tightly, tears falling. “I thought I would lose you,” Draco bawled.

“Well, if I’m going to save the wizarding world, I can’t up and die now, can I?” Harry tried joking, voice straining with pain.

“Oh! Right, I’m sorry.” Draco backed away. “Madam Pomfrey said you’d be in a lot of pain, with the things they did to you…”

“Please, don’t talk about that. Just, can you hold me? Just, not so tightly.”

“Of course,” Draco whispered, carefully pulling Harry close, climbing fully on the bed to do so better, laying a kiss on the top of his head. “Is there anything else you need?”

Harry blushed. “Er. Well, I’m a little hungry…”

“Right.” Draco held his wrist by Harry’s mouth. “It’ll help you recover faster, too; you’re still in a lot of pain, it seems...”

Harry pushed Draco’s wrist aside, going straight for the neck. Draco smiled and tilted his head to the side, allowing for better access. 

Of course, that was the moment Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape chose to walk into the hospital wing, staring disapprovingly at the scene.

Draco looked at them, more in defiance than guilt, then gently moved Harry away. “He just woke up, and was still in pain. It’ll help him recover better.”

Harry turned around to see who Draco was talking to, then blushed. “P-professors.” He wiped his mouth with his sleeve.

“Oh! Harry! You’re awake!” Madam Pomfrey hustled over from her office, Madam Strout in her wake. “How are you feeling? You were in quite a mess when Draco brought you in earlier!”

“How long has it been here?” Harry asked.

“You’ve been unconscious for just four hours.”

“No, I mean how much time has passed total in this world?”

“About eight hours,” Draco responded promptly. We went to the bank around ten, you apparated around ten-thirty, we were occupied until around one with the Ministry, another hour was spent trying to convince them you were in danger and then figuring out how to get to the Dreamlands to rescue you, it took ten minutes to rescue you, and you’ve been unconscious for about four hours. It’s six pm.”

“That’s all?”

Draco nodded. “Yeah. How long was it there?”

“I’m not sure. Days? Weeks? There was no way to keep track of time, not even a window. She’d leave me alone for long periods of time between… doing things, to me.”

“I know it’s tough, but could you give us some insight as to what happened there, so we could properly heal you?” Madam Pomfrey pressed. “I think we got all the wounds, but it’d be best to know, just in case we missed anything.”

Harry was quiet for a moment. Draco squeezed his hand in support. Finally, he steeled himself, and nervously said what happened, as objective and clinically as possible. “I was chained so I was sitting on the floor with my arms above my head, with some sort of enchanted ruby cuffs that severely weakened me and rendered most my abilities inert. She used all different things on me, and gagged me after getting pissed that I kept talking back rather than submitting and pleading like she wanted. A staff that zapped me with something similar to the cruciatus curse, except worse. A corundum knife that she’d sometimes just leave in my thigh until she returned. Liquid corundum she dripped on me. Some sort of spike-covered boots she kicked me with. And-- and--” Harry couldn’t continue; he buried his head in Draco’s shoulder instead.

“And what, dear?”

Harry shook his head back and forth in response, keeping his head buried. “Not with them here.”

Madam Pomfrey turned to Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape. “Please leave so I may talk to Harry alone. I will contact you when treatment is finished. No-- do not protest this. Shoo!” The three humans complied.

“Thank you.”

“Of course. Now, what else happened? You had some blood near your anal opening. Would it have to do with that?” She asked this as gently as possible.

Harry’s voice was barely audible and wobbled slightly, clearly holding back tears. “She-- she had this... rod with spikes, that she put in there.”

Draco gasped, and held Harry tighter. He recalled seeing that on the floor, bloody, but had no idea it had been used for such. He rubbed circles on Harry’s back as Harry broke into heaving sobs. “Shhh, it’s okay, Harry. You’re okay. I’m here for you.”

 

*******

 

“Oh, for goodness sake, it’s 9pm, visiting hours are over!” Mrs. Pomfrey muttered, hustling over to the door as a group of people entered. “What could you possibly all want at this hour!”

“I am so sorry to intrude, Poppy,” Dumbledore said. “But the Minister is most insistent upon questioning Harry about the events of earlier today…” He gestured to Scrimgeour and his assistant, Percy, with whom some aurors had arrived. Snape and McGonagall were there again as well.

“There will be no such thing done! Albus, you heard what was said earlier. Is that not enough? The poor boy has been through quite the ordeal; he needs rest!”

“He doesn’t look like he’s resting much, to me,” the Minister pointed out. Indeed, Harry was sitting cross-legged on the bed, Draco on the other side, warily watching the group of people, a game of chess sitting between them.

“Resting doesn’t necessarily mean sleeping,” Madam Pomfrey scowled. “Chess is hardly an exertive activity.”

“And neither is talking.”

“Physically, no, unless it turns into a shouting match, which I hear it tends to become when you two talk.”

“Oh, come now, that’s not--”

“It’s true,” said Harry. “Please leave.”

Either the Minister didn’t notice the still-strained voice, or chose to ignore it. “If you cooperate, that won’t happen. We just need to know what specifically happened after the woman took you, so we can capture those responsible.”

“Oh, okay. Well, I woke in a cell, she tortured me some, and then a legion of cats arrived to rescue me, eating her alive in the process.”

The Minister stared at Harry in annoyance. “Want to tell us how you really escaped?”

“That is how I escaped.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Okay, fine, there was more to it. It was on a moon in another world, and there was a whole city of strange creatures, whom the earthly cats all destroyed easily, and then they had a large battle with the saturnal cats which drastically cut their numbers yet they won in the end, while another group rescued me. Then we leapt through the abyss of space to return here.”

“Don’t mock me!”

“I’m not. That’s what happened. Although, I might also have been fading in and out of unconscious and mildly hallucinating… Draco and Selardi led the cats, maybe he can shed more light on it.”

“Oh, right, throw me under the bus,” Draco joked. “Well, basically, this bracelet I have told me where he was,” He held up his wrist, showing it off. “If he’s in enough pain it can lead me to him. So that’s what it did. Selardi and I got help from the cats, and together we saved him. The woman was killed.”

“Who is this ‘Selardi’ you’re speaking about?” asked an auror.

Draco gestured to the small cat sleeping in Harry’s lap. “My cat. She’s a familiar of Death.”

“Why, you--” the Minister began, taking a step forwards.

“Minister,” Percy put his hand out to stop him. “Clearly, they’ve been given too much pain potion. Perhaps coming back tomorrow would be more prudent.”

“Actually…” Harry grinned slightly. “How about, you accept the story and don’t come back at all?” he said this coyly, yet with cosmic force all the same. 

The Minister looked at Harry blankly for a moment. “Yes, I suppose that is best. Let’s go.” He and his promenade left.

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. “You’ve gotten better at that.” His eyes and aura twinkled. “I am impressed.”

“Yeah, well, I got some practice at the bank.” Harry grinned. “Also, the Minister is way too easy. You sure he was an auror in the past?”

“Harry, you should lie down. That put some strain on you,” Draco enjoined.

“What? Don’t be silly. I’m-- I’m fine…” Harry swayed slightly, yet kept smiling. Faint spots of red rotated around him.

“Your aura betrays you.”

 

*******

 

“Harry!” Hermione dashed over, wrapping her arms around him, knocking the chess set away.

“Hey! Hermione, that’s my set they’re borrowing! If it’s broken…” Ron complained.

“Er, Hermione, you’re crushing me…” Harry winced. 

Hermione gasped. “You’re in pain! I’ll find Madam Pomfrey, get you another potion--”

“No, it’s fine. I already took some.” As much as could safely be consumed, in fact-- apparently, annoyingly, they have a reduced effect on vampires, according to Madam Strout. He desperately wanted it to work, though; apparently, corundum wounds on him ignored the pain-numbing effect of the vampire magic; going back to human pain levels after being immune to such for two years was horrible-- the worst of it was the huge wound on his thigh, which hurt like a bitch so much that he couldn’t stand without collapsing. None of it was going to heal as fast as his vampire body usually would, particularly with this strain of corundum, a strain only found on that moon. Rubies so perfect that people had killed for them, so it was said, and thus that much more potent when such weapons from it were used on Harry. The wounds would heal fully though, Madam Pomfrey assured him, with minimal scarring, except for the leg one which would unfortunately leave a huge scar. 

“Aren’t vampires not supposed to feel pain, though?” Dean asked in confusion. “Ginny told me you fell out of a twenty-foot tree once and then stood up.”

“We do feel some, but muted,” Draco corrected. “However, you recall how Harry passed out when he swallowed a ruby last year? Wait, half of you don’t know that. Well, the rumor was he just got really drunk at Slughorn’s party which landed him here, but actually a ruby fell off of a goblet and he swallowed it, which put him into a mild coma. Apparently, corundum not only does that, but also weakens him, nullifies both the muted pain effect and quick healing, and his captor knew that. All the items used were constructed from it.”

“Actually, I’m not sure if she knew,” Harry corrected. “That place does trade in rubies. They’re seriously everywhere; I honestly think they just make everything from them-- I’m not even sure if they know what metal is. The woman didn’t seem to realize that it was the material in the cuffs making me weak and my abilities inert-- she assumed it was the runes carved into them, runes which I know normally wouldn’t work.”

“So, basically, bad luck,” Blaise concluded.

“Basically.”

“How long must you stay here?” Luna asked. “I was rather hoping we could visit Celephaïs tonight…”

“Seriously, Luna? You think he wants to go back to the Dreamlands after such an incident?” Neville asked.

Harry laughed. “Neville, the Dreamlands are a whole different world! Not going there because of an incident in one place is silly. It’d be like having a bad experience in Tokyo and then never going to anywhere in the entirety of Asia as a result. Sure, I won’t go to the moon again, but everywhere else is still fair game.”

“No it isn’t,” Luna corrected. “Carcosa is off limits.”

“For humans,” Harry reminded her. “Your mother could leave. She smuggled your father out.”

“So we could visit there?” Luna’s eyes sparkled.

“I suggest we don’t risk that, seeing as we don’t know for certain, and getting trapped there is not on my to-do list,” Draco reasoned.

“Fine,” pouted Luna. “Can we see the Peaks of Thok next, then? And Pnath! I’ve always wanted to go there!”

“Luna, Pnath is pitch-black, filled with mountains of bones, and full of bholes. Why the heck would you want to go there?” Harry marvelled.

“I think the bholes would make nice friends.”

Draco sighed. “You’re starting to sound like Hagrid, now.”

“What are bholes?” Ginny enquired.

“No one exactly knows. No one has seen them because the place is pitch-black; all that’s known for certain is they’re very large and feel slimy if they brush past you.” Harry responded.

“But you can see in the dark!” Luna told them. “You can see what they look like!”

“Not in Pnath. Even we need a little bit of light to see anything, and that place is literally pitch-black. No light.” Draco reminded the girl.

“Oh…” Luna looked like she had wilted.

“We can still go to the Peaks of Thok,” Harry consoled her.

“No! We are staying out of the Underworld areas,” Draco told them adamantly.

“Then how about Zin? I want to meet a ghast! I could befriend one, bring it back here as a pet...”

“Luna. Ghasts are primitive beings that voraciously eat anything living, including each other. They also disintegrate in light.”

“A zoog, then?”

“No. Zoogs are sentient beings that are currently in a cold-war with the cats. Capturing one will cause a full-scale war.”

“Night-gaunt, then?”

“NO!” Harry and Draco both yelled, looking at her in horror.

“What’s wrong with them? They’re nearly thoughtless.”

Harry growled. “They also happen to serve Nodens, who absolutely hates the Outer Gods and Old Ones, actively hunting those connected with them!”

“Which, we all happen to be,” Draco clarified.

“But I want a supernatural pet too, like you have Selardi…”

“Then find something non-sentient from anyplace other than the Underworld or the Abyss!” Draco scolded her.

“Hold up.” Dean interrupted the bickering. “Did you just call their cat supernatural?” 

“Of course,” Luna answered. “Selardi is a familiar of Death.”

“Meow!” Selardi confirmed.

“A familiar… of Death?”

“You’re not serious, are you, Luna?” Ginny wondered.

“Why would I not be? Look, it’s even in this book…”

“No!” Draco hissed, pushing the book back into Luna’s bag. “Are you insane? Why in Merlin are you carrying that bloody book around with you?! If someone sees it...”

“Yeah, Luna, you might want to be a bit more subtle with that thing,” Blaise suggested, eyes aglitter.

“Why? It’s not a bad book,” Harry asserted.

“Not a bad book!” Ron blurted. “Mate, if you’re talking about the book I think you are…”

“Neville? Where are you going?” Dean asked, watching the boy squeak and dash out the door.

“I thought you were going to burn that,” Hermione huffed pointedly.

“But it’s not a bad book…” Harry protested.

“What’s the book?” Ginny asked curiously. 

“Nothing to concern yourself with,” Ron dismissed, probably trying to protect his sister.

“Why not? Again, it isn’t a bad book!”

“Harry, stop going on about that!” Ron yelled. “The bloody Necronomicon sure as hell is a bad book! It’s the darkest tome in existence!”

“No, it isn’t! The book’s magic is cosmic, not dark. There’s a difference!”

“Difference? As in what, it’s worse? Because that thing nearly killed most of you when you did a ritual from it! Neville runs away in horror whenever it’s mentioned!”

“Well, if it’s bad, then I’m just as bad. It uses the same magic as I do. It talks all about the creatures that I’m very much associated with right now, seeing as I have their blood in me! How is that bad!?”

“Again, ritual that nearly killed you all!”

“Not intentionally! It isn’t the book’s fault that whatever was sealed in the temple was not the thing it was supposed to be. Besides, we chose to do the ritual; no one’s saying we need to do one like it again! The other content in the book is perfectly fine!” Harry began coughing; he had asserted himself too much. Blood came up.

“Harry!” Draco quickly stepped to the bed and helped his boyfriend to lie down. “Someone get Madam Pomfrey…”

“Draco, I’m fine….”

“Bloody hell you are. Shaking and coughing up blood are not symptoms of being fine.”

 

*******

 

Draco broke the kiss. “Are you sure you’re up for this match, Harry?”

“For the thousandth time, Draco, yes! I’m perfectly up to it.”

“But you only got out of the hospital wing a few days ago, after being there for over a week, and you still have a limp!”

“You know Madam Pomfrey likes to keep people longer than necessary. And I can fly with a limp perfectly fine. It’s just walking that’s bothersome.”

“If you say so.”

“I do say so. How about a bet, then?”

Draco raised an eyebrow. “A bet?”

“Yes. That I’ll catch the snitch before you, again.”

“And the stakes?”

Harry frowned as he thought, then burst into a smile and his eyes lit up. “The loser must perform any sexual favor the winner desires!”

Draco sneered playfully. “Then get ready to eat my ass, Harry!”

“Oh, no, I think you’re the one who’ll be doing that,” Harry winked. “Now, let’s go play some quidditch!”

Draco and Harry exited the locker room, joining their respective teams on the field.

“Took you long enough,” Ginny teased. “What, snogging before the game?”

Harry blushed. “N-no!”

“Not very convincing,” Dean chuckled.

Madam Hooch instructed the captains to shake hands, scolding them on proper sport etiquette when they instead did a quick peck on the lips, as the entire stadium squealed over the cuteness. She blew the whistle, and the players kicked off, Harry wobbling a little initially but quickly recovering.

“A very nice start of the game. Wouldn’t it be nice if kissing opened every game? Handshakes are quite boring, after all,” Luna began commentating. “Hmm, let’s see. Ginny just passed the quaffle to her lover, Dean. They’re cute, aren’t they? Oops, I’m not supposed to comment on such,” she said, as McGonagall gave her a glare. 

Harry let out a laugh that turned into a cough. Draco swerved his broom over to check if Harry was okay, but Harry dismissed him. Draco frowned. 

“The quaffle is being passed between a lot of people,” Luna commentated. “Gryffindor seems to have some sort of fast-paced passing strategy. Seems like it’s working, as they just scored.” The game went on similarly for perhaps a half hour, before: “Oooh, it seems the snitch has been spotted! Look at them fly!”

Harry reached out towards the snitch, Draco hot on his tail. Harry wobbled a bit, and Draco passed by, arm stretching forwards… out of the corner of his eye he noticed Harry wobble a little more, with a sleepy look on his face. Draco gave a start. A vampire shouldn't have such a look, unless… Draco sighed. Harry’s skin was reddening. He should have reminded him about using the sunscreen spells; it was gleaming out. Draco stopped chasing the snitch, and turned to Harry, catching him as he began to fall off his broom.

“Sorry... Guess I’m still a bit weak…”

“No. You just forgot that sunlight hates vampires. Didn’t you?” Draco chided.

Harry blushed. “Er. Right. So it seems.”

Madam Hooch blew the whistle for a time-out, hurrying over to where Draco and Harry landed. “Is someone hurt?”

“No, I’m fine,” Harry muttered, then coughed a little.

“No, you’re not. He almost passed out, started falling off his broom; he’s been coughing a bit, too, all day. He needs to see Madam Pomfrey.”

“Yes, I see that. Fifteen minute intermission; Gryffindor, get your reserve team in order. Now, we need a volunteer to escort Harry-- someone who isn’t in the game, Draco…”

“I can do it!” Said a woman with a too-wide smile and eyes that shone like the cosmos, dressed in staff robes.

Madam Hooch put her hands on her hips. “And just who are you?”

“It’s okay. I know her,” Harry muttered sominally, allowing himself to be lifted by Nyarlathotep, and carried to the Hospital Wing.

Or, carried to Sona-Nyl. Harry supposed that worked, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Why did Nyarlathotep bring Harry to Sona-Nyl? Harry discovers something about himself, which leads to a big argument with Dumbledore! Then another problem in Kingsley's class, lightning is studied in Firenze's class, and disappointing news in the Daily Prophet.


	15. An Argument and Classes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "And it was by moonlight that we anchored at last in the harbour of Sona-Nyl, which is guarded by twin headlands of crystal that rise from the sea and meet in a resplendent arch. This is the Land of Fancy, and we walked to the verdant shore upon a golden bridge of moonbeams.  
>  In the Land of Sona-Nyl there is neither time nor space, neither suffering nor death; and there I dwelt for many aeons. Green are the groves and pastures, bright and fragrant the flowers, blue and musical the streams, clear and cool the fountains, and stately and gorgeous the temples, castles, and cities of Sona-Nyl. Of that land there is no bound, for beyond each vista of beauty rises another more beautiful. Over the countryside and amidst the splendour of cities rove at will the happy folk, of whom all are gifted with unmarred grace and unalloyed happiness."  
> \--H.P. Lovecraft, excerpt from "The White Ship"

“Why are we in Sona-Nyl again?” Harry muttered, still sleepy, as Nyarlathotep changed into his favorite form: a pharaoh.

“Because here there is ‘neither time nor space, suffering nor death’. You are ill, thus I felt it imperative to take you here.”

“Is it that bad?”

“Not particularly. I just dislike to see my pets suffer, though I must say, you hide your pain well. Sunlight poisoning aside, it seems you have corundum that has tainted your lungs-- hence the coughing. You must have breathed in fumes from it being heated. But that is of course an easy fix too. The true issue is that when those disgusting moon-people had you weakened, the strange dark magic in you started to rise as well. That ought to be removed too, don’t you think? It is ugly magic, and should not be in a pet of mine.”

“Strange dark magic? What do you mean?”

“Why, the kind that connects you to the dark wizard who wants to kill you, of course. Seems like it’s a bit of his soul, actually, though why a human would want to do such is a mystery to me; their souls and magic are already so fragile…”

“Wait, piece of soul? Fuck. Yes, please get that out, and destroy it!” Harry figured that Voldemort must have accidentally done that when his spell backfired when he was an infant… no wonder he had that connection with him… So many thoughts were swirling in Harry’s mind. He was a horcrux, was what Nyarlathotep was telling him. Did Dumbledore know? How did he plan to remove it, if so? “How do you plan to remove it?” he asked Nyarlathotep.

“There is a ritual, but it is painful, even to a being as yourself. Hence why I brought you here, where there is no pain. That, and there are those here that can help with the rituals of both that and lung purification. We are removing the… what did you call it? Horcrux? Yes. That will be removed, and you have no choice in that.”

“Well, I want it out too, so no problems there.”

 

*******

 

“Harry! You’re back! It’s been days!” Draco tackled Harry, nearly knocking him off balance. “Where did you go? Dumbledore was going ballistic; he still doesn’t trust Nyarlathotep, and was absolutely outraged that we’d just casually handed you over to him. I wasn’t worried though; I know he wouldn’t do anything bad to you.”

“Right. Where’s is Dumbledore, anyway?” Harry asked, barely paying attention to Draco.

“You’re acting calm, but your aura says anger… what’s going on?”

“I need to speak with him. He’s in his office, I bet.” Harry stormed off, anger beginning to show.

Draco, of course, followed. When they reached Dumbledore’s office, Harry burst through the door with no warning. Dumbledore was at his desk.

“Harry! You’re safe!” Dumbledore began to stand.

“Shut it,” Harry growled, magic shoving Dumbledore back to sitting. He slammed his hands down on the desk and bared his fangs in the man’s face.

Dumbledore leaned back slightly, trying to express calm, but clearly set off-balance by the display.

“Harry, stop it!” Draco grabbed Harry’s arms and pulled him back. “Be civil! Yes, you’re angry about something. That doesn’t mean you need to stick your fangs in front of people--”

“You shut up,” Harry raged, pushing Draco away and turning to Dumbledore. “Why didn’t you tell me I was a bloody horcrux? You knew, didn’t you? What, still trying to protect me or something? When did you plan to let me know? And what did you plan to do about it?”

Dumbledore’s face was white as a sheet. “Harry, I--”

“You’re a horcrux?!” Draco proclaimed, shocked.

Harry closed his eyes, trying to calm down. “Was. Was one. Voldemort did it accidentally when the curse rebounded, didn’t he?”

Dumbledore answered that. “Yes. His soul was already so torn up that when the curse rebounded, his already viciously cracked soul split to the point a piece fell off and attached itself to the only other living thing in the room: you.”

“How long have you known?” Harry’s demeanor was calm, aided by Draco’s arm tepidly being placed around his shoulder, but his voice was still razor sharp.

Dumbledore closed his eyes and sighed. “I started suspecting the connection was something more your fifth year, when you saw the vision of Arthur’s attack from the snake’s eyes rather than Voldemort’s. Last year, when I realized about how there were multiple horcruxes and that he’d made the snake one, I was able to connect the dots, so to say.”

“I see. Then why didn’t you tell me, once you knew?”

“Harry, I…”

“Didn’t want to burden me with it,” Harry finished. “Right?”

“...right.”

“How did you even plan on removing it? Kill me? You wouldn’t be able to. No curses work, and even if they did, you’d face the wrath of multiple cosmic entities. Who, by the way, would not kill you, rather relegate you to some fate worse than death that is incomprehensible to humans.”

“Well, I really hadn’t thought that much about--”

“Don’t lie.”

“Yes. The prophecy said one must die at the hands of the other. If you remain a horcrux, he cannot die.”

“So you were basically raising me as a pig for slaughter, a tool?”

“Snape said the same thing,” Dumbledore whispered.

“You know, in some ways you’re just as bad as Voldemort. Using people for your own gain, not giving a shit about them or their feelings!”

“Harry, that’s not true, I do care…”

“If you cared, you would have found another way to remove it, not come up with a convoluted plan involving that damned prophecy.”

“But, there is no other way, don’t you see?” Dumbledore was becoming irritated, as well.

“Actually, there was. A modification of a ritual found in a certain book you refuse to even look at.” Harry sneered, smug at how Dumbledore was reacting to it all. “I told you it isn’t so bad a book.”

Dumbledore looked at Harry with incredulity, a mix of emotions swirling around him-- puzzlement, awe, nervousness, horror, hope, fear. “Are you saying you removed it using a necronomiconal ritual?”

“Not me specifically. Nyarlathotep and some priests did, in Sona-Nyl. That’s where he took me after I nearly fainted during quidditch; seems I had corundum poisoning in my blood, and when he brought me to correct it he saw the dark magic from Voldemort’s soul in me had grown while being weakened during capture. He was quite annoyed with that, gave me no choice in removing it. Not that I’m complaining.”

“Why Sona-Nyl?” asked Draco curiously.

“There’s no pain there, and apparently it is a very painful ritual normally, regardless of species.”

“You are completely sure it is gone?” Dumbledore confirmed.

“Yes,” Harry looked at Dumbledore coldly. “But if I find out you’re hiding anything else of such weighty importance involving me, I won’t hesitate to punish you.”

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. “And just what is that supposed to mean? Harry, I think perhaps these cosmic beings are influencing you negatively; perhaps you should reduce your interactions with such. Some are even known to cause madness simply by meeting them, like the one called Azathoth which Nyarlathotep seems to be well-associated with.”

“Only in humans. We’re under his protection. We’ve spoken to Azathoth before, in fact.”

Dumbledore’s eyes widened. “You’ve spoken to him? But how…?”

“Hey, so, er, any news on the other horcruxes?” Draco interjected, diverting the conversation slightly.

Dumbledore sighed. “Not yet. And Snape has reported that Voldemort is not very happy about the Death Eaters getting captured, but does not suspect our involvement, still believing that the cup remains in the vault. He believes the prophet article which says they merely took an opportunity when they saw you going to your own vault.”

“There’s two left and the snake, right?” Harry charified. “The locket that RAB has and an unknown object.”

“And we're no closer to finding them,” Dumbledore acknowledged. “But, your education comes first at the moment; I do believe you have a class you should be in right now. Draco, why weren’t you there to begin with? I heard you left Herbology earlier. You should be in Defense, now.”

“I was worried about Harry; I couldn’t concentrate,” Draco lied.

Dumbledore sighed. “I suppose I’ll let it slide this time. Now, off to class with you two; Kingsley is getting annoyed at how often you’ve been missing his class.”

“So why’d you really leave Herbology?” Harry whispered to Draco as they left.

Draco cringed. “Half the class got bitten by the bush things we were supposed to be pruning; the blood started getting to my head.”

“Ah, got it. Er. Do you still crave it? Outside of class, I mean.”

“Well, yeah. We’re vampires. The animal blood and potion can only sate the craving so much, not eliminate it.”

“Really? So me still wanting it isn’t just because I had it before?”

Draco looked at Harry in mild surprise. “Is that what you thought? No, it’s perfectly normal, for a vampire, regardless of if you’d had any before.”

That somewhat mollified Harry’s worry about his continued desire to want human blood-- perhaps he should have talked to Draco about such before, just as Madam Strout had said. They were in the same boat; it wasn’t just him being affected by having drunk Bellatrix’s blood, it was a normal thing Draco felt too. 

Their discussion had taken them all the way to Defense class, which they entered tepidly.

“It’s about time you two showed up,” Kingsley scolded. He didn’t know Harry hadn’t been around since the quidditch game two days prior; actually, no one knew except Dumbledore and their friend group-- it seemed it had been covered up, most likely to prevent panic from starting like it had a few weeks prior.

“Sorry, sir,” Harry muttered, as he and Draco found their seats.

“You are twenty minutes late to class. You better have a good excuse, or you’ll be serving detention.”

“We were with Dumbledore,” Draco divulged. “In his office. Ask him.”

“Ah. Very well, then. So, as I was saying, recognizing dark objects. There is actually a simple spell, that when used will make nearby magical objects with strong dark magic appear to glow to the caster when you look at them. This spell is only what would be done preliminary when searching a place for dark magic; it only registers strong magic, which is useful for identifying the ones most likely to be dangerous, but won’t show you more minor things nor living things. The spell is ‘tenemalius revealo’.”

Harry clutched his stomach and Draco clutched his chest; their navel ring and amulet had both reacted with small shocks in an attempt to protect them from the magic. Both let out tiny yelps.

Kingsley looked over at Harry and Draco with a befuddled exasperation, though said nothing about the magic he was clearly seeing radiate from them. Instead, he continued, gesturing at the desk. “I have a collection of objects; some infused with dark magic, some without. I’d like you to take turns looking at them and determine which are and which aren’t. Write them down, and don’t share with each other; I want to be sure you each were able to perform the spell correctly. Please do not touch them. Harry, Draco, come with me for a moment. Blaise, you too, and bring your schoolbag.”

“Do I even want to know why you two are wearing so many dark items?” Kingsley asked, once in his office. Said items the spell identified were the collars, amulet, navel ring, and earring.

Harry snarled. “They’re not dark magic, they’re cosmic magic! Completely different. Not my fault if you brainless humans can’t tell the difference.”

“Harry, stop it,” Draco scolded. “Since when do you have so much contempt for humans?”

“Since they have so much contempt for us! Did you see the Prophet article this morning? They’re enstating even more regulations! Dark beings, is what most see us as. Less than human, even though we were perfectly normal humans just a few years ago! I want to bridge the gap, have magical and cosmic beings in all countries able to live in peace with wizards, but at this rate it’ll take a millenium!”

“Right… that is an admirable goal, Harry,” Kingsley acknowledged, with a fair amount of wariness, “but you have to think about it from the Ministry’s perspective-- they see it as protecting themselves, as Voldemort has been recruiting a lot of creatures--”

“And you know why that is?” Harry’s sneer was very disconcerting, nearly inhuman. “Because of all these restrictions! Adding more will just force them over to his side, as he promises them freedom. He’s probably lying about that, but most of the creatures siding with him see more hope there regardless than they do here. Just a glimmer of hope is all it takes, and adding more restrictions just shows that there is less here than there. I don’t blame them one bit for wanting to seize what little hope of normality they can get.”

“Yes, you make a very good point. The Order members have tried to convince the Minister of this, believe me. However, we’re getting off topic-- I asked why you have those objects.”

“They help control our magic. Mine don’t come off. Dumbledore knows about them.” Harry’s demeanor changed back to a more typical, cooperative one.

Kingsley, though a bit shaken up, raised an eyebrow. “He’s willingly letting you wear such dark objects?”

“He doesn’t approve, but again, they don’t come off, and they’re helpful.”

“Draco’s amulet comes off.”

“Technically, yes,” Draco confirmed. “But Nyarlathotep will be angry if I remove it, and it’s unwise to make him angry.”

“Nyarlathotep?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Harry dismissed. “Just know that they won’t be removed, and Dumbledore knows about them.”

Kingsley frowned. “If Dumbledore knows, I suppose it’s fine. But if they don’t come off, you can’t exactly go back to class… perhaps you can return to the classroom after class to try it out? You have lunch next, right?”

Harry shook his head. “We really don’t need to. We can sense magic in things, of all types and strengths.”

Kingsley raised an eyebrow. “I was unaware vampires could do such.”

“Well, we can.”

“I see. Then I suppose you don’t need to practice. Now, Blaise…”

“Damn, I thought you forgot about me!” Blaise whined. “What am I here for?”

Kingsley did not look impressed. “Open your bag. Now.”

Blaise gulped and opened the bag, revealing a very old book.

Draco groaned. “Why in all of hell would you bring that to Defense class, of all places?”

“Well, I was looking at it before class, and accidentally grabbed it with my other books…”

Kingsley had paled. “Please tell me that isn’t want I think it is.”

“It is,” Harry stated bluntly. “And you will forget you saw it.”

“I will… what? Are you trying to--”

“You. Will. Forget. You. Saw. It.” Harry’s eyes flashed with something dangerous.

Kingsley’s eyes briefly shone blank, as Blaise hid the book in Draco’s bag, then he blinked. “Er, what was I saying, again? Right. You two can be dismissed from class early. Blaise, not sure why you’re here too, but you ought to return to class… Harry? Are you okay?”

“Er, yeah, just a bit… nauseous,” Harry lied, as his hand was covering the navel ring. He felt a little weak-- Kingsley had a very strong mind, it seemed.

“Very well. I must get back to class now; don’t get in too much trouble.”

“What was with that little rant?” Draco asked Harry, once they were headed down the hall towards their lounge.

“What rant?”

“The one where you acted like you utterly abhorred humans due to how poorly they treat creatures, and talked about how with the way the Ministry acts it’s no wonder that the Dark Lord appeals to them. And called humans brainless for not knowing the difference between dark and cosmic magic.”

Harry looked at Draco blankly.

“You don’t remember, do you?” Draco sighed.

“No, not at all…”

“Right. So what do you remember of that?” Draco was unfortunately used to having to explain what happened during such memory lapses.

“Well, he asked us about the objects, and then I explained how they don’t come off but that’s okay because they help, and Dumbledore knows. And then all that stuff about the book. You have the book, right?”

“Yes, I have the book. So you don’t hold humans in contempt?”

Harry marvelled at Draco. “Not at all. Did I say that?”

“Not directly, but you definitely had an air of that when ranting about it.”

“Well if it was about the Ministry and their laws, yes, of course I would show contempt. Doesn’t mean I hate all humans.”

“Right, of course. Sorry; it was just a little disturbing, your demeanor during that. You’re right, of course you would show contempt at the Ministry-- I sure as hell do, as well!”

 

*******

 

The class looked slightly puzzled when they entered the Natural Magic classroom. There was something missing.

“Ah, yes, I see you've noticed,” Firenze said sadly. “Unfortunately, I have been warned that giving you ‘mind-altering substances’, or merely allowing you to have such in class, is not permitted. However, if you acquire some on your own, and wish to use it before class, that is fine. I’m sure you all can find some.”

“Oh! I can get some for everyone!” Luna announced.

“Ah, very good then; I strongly encourage you all to see Luna about it. Now, to the lesson: we are moving onto lightning. Lightning is very similar, yet also very different, to fire,” Firenze began. “Both are powerful elements that cannot be easily controlled-- you must direct and guide it, but do not try to force it. Be its friend, connect with it. Yet at the same time, do not let it go unrestrained; encourage it to follow the path you want it to go to. Harry, you try it first.”

Harry was excited-- the first element, fire, he had come into class knowing a bit about, and the second one, water, had been rather boring, but lightning was something entirely new and contained that same enthralling power to it as fire did. He held his arm out and focused on a metal rod provided for such. He felt the energy gather in his hand. With a gentle push, he willed it to go to the rod. With a crackling sound and a tingly sensation in his hand, a bright bolt of lightning flashed between his hand and the rod. As he’d expected, it was an absolutely invigorating feeling. He’d have to play around with it more later.

“Perfect!” Firenze cheered. “Now, of course, I do not expect most of you to get it as quickly as Harry, and certainly many won’t even get it this lesson, but do your best! There are many rods around the room, and I do not expect any of you will generate enough to damage anyone if you miss. Now, go try it.” The class divided into groups of friends to practice.

“I got it!” Draco smiled. 

“First try, too! Nice!” Harry piped.

“Think it’s another one of those things our cosmic magic aides, like fire?”

“Hmm. We’ll just have to see how Luna--”

CRACK. A bolt that was practically the size of the kind that drops from clouds sprang into a rod, collapsing it entirely. Some people screamed and ducked, others stood in place with shock.

“I did it!” Luna shouted mirthfully.

 

*******

 

“You have to be kidding me!” Hermione burst at breakfast the next day, while reading the Daily Prophet.

“What’s going on?” Harry asked, slightly worried. “Is it… anyone we know?”

“No. Well, kinda? It’s about some new law they’re trying to get passed… oh, it’s horrible…”

“It’s related to creatures, isn’t it?”

“Yeah…” she handed the page to Harry, a small article near the back. “There’s not much support for it yet, but some of the Wizengamont members have suggested a bill that would deny creatures the right to own businesses.”

“What! They can’t be serious! What’ll happen to the ones like Mindy’s and Cleo’s that cater specifically to creatures needs? Wizards won’t want to run those places!”

“Mindy’s is the bar Lupin works at, right?” Ron asked. “What’s Cleo’s, another bar?”

“Cleo’s Creature Candy Creations is a shop in Diagon Alley with delicious treats,” Luna supplied.

“And by delicious, you mean…?”

Harry laughed a little. “You know. Blood lollis, but with actual blood. And chocolate truffles filled with a blood-cream; those even come in all different flavors-- hawk is my favorite, rabbit is Draco’s.”

“Okay, sorry I asked.” Ron looked slightly green.

“They have non blood things, too,” Luna added. “I like the things made with tree saps. Harry brought be back some pine pasties the other day.”

“Since when do you eat that stuff?” Hermione asked Luna curiously.

“Well, Mindy made me a pine-sap daiquiri, and it tasted wonderful. So I asked Harry to get me something else with pine next time he went for more lollies.”

“THAT’S the kind of lollies you’ve been eating?” Ron gasped. “I just assumed you were getting the ones at Honeydukes!”

“Ugh, no way. Those taste as close to blood as grape-flavored things taste to actual grape.” 

“I don’t think I’ll ever look at you the same again when you have one of those in your mouth.”

Harry laughed, then looked thoughtful. “You know, come to think of it, you’re somewhat lucky that last year you ate the chocolates Romilda gave me; the other batch of chocolates I had were all blood truffles.”

Ron paled. “Please, stop talking about blood…”

Hermione rolled her eyes. “Honestly, you two. Must you always argue about such ridiculous things?”

“He started it,” Harry pouted, as he procured a blood lolli and popped it in his mouth while grinning, showing fangs.

Ron looked even fainter. “I think you forgot something this morning, mate.”

“Huh? What’d I for--” Harry felt his tongue roll over a fang. “Oh. Thanks.” Harry blushed slightly as he rectified the situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: A Christmas party! Plus, a surprising discovery at Grimmauld Place.


	16. Christmas at Grimmauld Place

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy this monster of a chapter! Monster as in size-wize (4718 words! For comparison, the second-longest thus far was the wedding, at 4231 words, with the shortest having been a scant 2431). The content itself is mostly happy. A nice respite before all goes to hell again.

“Happy Christmas!” Sirius greeted, managing to hug Harry and Draco at the same time, squishing them together. Christmas Dinner-- well, party, actually-- was being held at Sirius’s place this year. They had invited more people this time, as it was such a big house, though made sure everyone invited already knew about Harry and Draco being vampires. The two had to be careful though, as not all there knew about the cosmic magic. Harry, Draco, Fleur, and the Weasleys-- all but Percy, but they don’t talk about him-- had just arrived together as a group, and Blaise, Luna, and Dean, the latter who immediately ran over and kissed Ginny, had arrived a few minutes prior. Mindy and Shiki were at a bar that had been set up, serving everyone drinks-- Lupin had told them multiple times they didn’t have to, that the pitchers of pre-made drinks were fine, but Mindy insisted on doing custom drinks anyway. Harry made his way over to them.

“Mindy! Shiki! It’s been a while!” Harry grinned broadly.

“Are you actually here to talk to us, or just here for the booze?” Mindy teased.

Harry feigned surprise. “Oh no, you caught me!” The three broke out laughing.

“Ah, but I do have a little holiday treat for you!” Mindy beamed. “You’re going to love it.” She began grabbing different bottles and various liquids and a vial of something red.

“Harry! Nice teh see yeh!” Hagrid seemed to have arrived; how had Harry not noticed that? Before he could respond, Harry was pulled into a bone-crushing hug.

“It is a good thing he doesn’t need to breathe,” Luna told the man bluntly, holding a drink in her hand that smelled strongly of pine. “If he did, he’d be unconscious.”

“Wha’? I’m not ‘uggin’ ‘im tha’ ‘ard!”

“ _This is a nice house,”_ came a voice from the floor. Harry looked down to see Apollo the runespoor, whom was now a stunning six-feet long-- i.e., full-grown.

“ _Hello, Apollo. Glad you like it. It’s Sirius’s.”_ Harry turned to Hagrid. “Why did you bring him? I don’t object, but there’s a lot of people here, not all necessarily comfortable with runespoors…”

“Wha’? Why wouldn’ they be?”

_“Hello. So, your name is Apollo? That’s a very nice name,”_ Shiki said to the snake, leaning over the counter.

“ _Someone else speaks my language!”_ Apollo cheered, sliding up onto the counter to converse with the red-eyed demon.

“Hagrid, did you seriously bring Apollo?” Neville asked, amused. He had just arrived with Adrian and Daphne.

“Aww, he’s so cute!” Daphne fawned, while Adrian merely looked wary. This was their first time meeting Apollo.

“Meow!” Selardi complained, for want of attention. Mrs. Norris had been occupying the cat’s time earlier, but once again she had to be returned to Filch so he didn’t get lonely on Christmas.

“Meeeerow!” Came another cat voice-- Crookshanks had arrived. Along with Hermione, of course. The cat went to play with Selardi and the girl hugged Harry in greeting.

“I think that means everyone is here now,” Harry said happily, as Draco came over and slid his hand around his waist.

“Not Viktor,” Luna commented sadly. “You didn’t invite him, but you should have.”

Draco sighed. “Luna, we told you already: only people who know what we are are here.”

“But I’m sure he would want to come here. He likes you two. His letters show it.”

Harry and Draco blushed. “Y-you’ve been reading our letters?” Harry asked. “Why? When?”

“Wait, Viktor doesn’t know you’re vampires?” Hermione interjected. “But didn’t you all have sex with him? How can you have sex with someone yet not tell them you’re a vampire!?”

Draco raised an eyebrow. “And why not? It doesn’t exactly make much of a difference, except that we have more stamina, but he has plenty anyway due to his career.”

“He still has a right to know!”

“Who has a right to know what?” Ron asked, joining Harry, Draco, Luna, and Hermione.

“N-nothing, don’t worry about it,” Harry stuttered.

“You probably would rather not know,” Draco asserted.

“Hermione’s annoyed because Draco and Harry didn’t tell Viktor they were vampires before having sex with him,” Luna supplied, causing the other three to bury their faces in their hands.

“Oh. Well. Er. Yeah, Draco was right, didn’t want to know.” Ron’s face was resemblant of a tomato.

“Drinks are ready!” Mindy told them. “Well, Harry’s and Draco’s, at least. Here, it’s a new one-- you get to be the taste-testers!” She handed each a glass of a brownish-red drink over ice with a top layer of what looked like cream marbled with something red. “I call it a Red Russian.”

Harry took a sip. It was good! Strong coffee flavor though distinctly alcoholic, and the cream blended into it nicely-- the red was blood, naturally. Very refreshing… “Oh! Hawk blood! That’s my favorite! What else is in it?” he queried.

“On that note, I’m out of here,” Ron declared, grabbing a butterbeer from the cooler and heading away.

Mindy chuckled at the display. “Ah, humans can be so silly sometimes. Well, the drink is basically a variant of a White Russian, which is vodka, coffee liqueur, and cream, over ice. I just added the blood to the main part, and then swirled it into the cream as well. It won’t always use hawk blood though-- that’s a special treat for you.” Mindy winked at Harry. “I know it’s your favorite.”

“What would it use, then? Bat-blood, like the tea uses?”

“Nah. I was thinking either rabbit or deer. Maybe chicken. Hawk is more difficult to come by. You’ll have to be my taste-testers, though; as a faun, I’m afraid I’m not very adept at tasting the subtleties of various bloods.”

“Oh, you’re a faun? I’ve never met a faun before!” Hermione smiled broadly. Harry introduced the two, explaining how Hermione wanted to help with creature equality-- Mindy seemed highly interested in such, and introduced Hermione to Shiki, whom began conversing with Hermione about her homeland, Japan, where creatures were much more integrated with wizarding society.

“Hey, not to kill the mood, but you’ve heard about the bill they’ve introduced, right?” Harry asked nervously. “Will the pub be okay?”

Mindy chuckled. “They try such things every few years. Don’t worry about it too much; it’s a mere handful of them who try to get those bills passed, and they’re not big names. The Wizengamot has some much more influential members who are adamantly against more regulation, including Dumbledore-- as usual, the more neutral members will side with them when it comes to such a game-changing law. Politics isn’t all about doing what you believe is right and wrong; in fact, in today’s world, it’s more like the opposite. Trust me, the pub won’t be closed.”

“Are you sure? There’s been such a tightening on other regulations. What if--”

“Harry. Trust me, that bill won’t even get through the preliminary steps, let alone to a final vote. Yes, they have increased regulations lately, that is true. But such an extreme one will never hold. It’ll cause the Wizengamot’s reputation to plummet, for one. Secondly, it’ll almost surely cause open rebellion, and ultimately, the humans are quite afraid of such. That’s what all these regulations are for-- to quell their fear. It gives them some semblance of control, when in reality, they honestly don’t have much.” 

“They don’t?”

“They don’t. There is a limit, you know. They know not to pass that. We endure their regulations, but have you noticed how they’re often not enforced? Our pub serves minors, and we don’t hide that fact. That technically is illegal. But they don’t want to send anyone in to enforce it, because they’re scared what will happen. The only way would be to send a whole squad in, which will only make them look like fools in the public’s eye.”

“I suppose that makes sense. Still, what if they do pass the law?”

“Look, as long as we stay to our own devices, they’re content to ignore us. It’s only when we start interacting with them when they do try enforcing any of those laws they make; for example, if we owned, say, a regular ice-cream shop, it’d be a problem-- however, as we cater to other creatures, not wizards, they won’t do a thing about it.”

“Are you sure?”

“Completely.” Mindy smiled playfully, a strange sparkle in her eyes. “Besides, if worse comes to worse, the one who collared you will step in, I can guarantee it. He is very protective of the species he deems his children, after all.” She winked.

Harry’s eyes widened. “You know about--”

“Oh, I know the symbol. I might have had a rendezvous with him once or twice in my youth… now, stop talking to the old bartender, and go socialize with your friends.” Mindy winked. 

Harry had a feeling he’d never get more of an explanation as to how Mindy knew Nyarlathotep, and by the way she said ‘rendezvous’, he wasn’t sure he wanted the details anyway. His worries were properly mollified though-- she was right, the Outer God wouldn’t stand for it, especially if Harry and Draco insisted he help, as for some reason he genuinely seemed to care for them, or at least whatever foreign emotion he felt that was on par with such. Although, chances are his idea of helping would be to destroy the whole Ministry. Harry smiled in amusement at that thought. After all, would that honestly be such a bad thing?

Draco and Harry wandered the room, socializing as Mindy suggested. Blaise seemed to be looking for Fred and George, whom no one had seen since arriving-- that was never a good sign. After a while, though, they returned… with a large crate. Everyone turned to look, as the crate was making trumpetting noises.

“Hear ye, hear ye!” Fred called. “George and I would like to introduce you to something amazing!”

“Yes, the newest addition to our shop, courtesy of Harry: our mascot, Goldie the Elephant!” George opened the crate, and a very joyous neon-yellow elephant the size of a golden retriever waddled out.

“It took a while, but she is now fully trained! Goldie, confetti!”

The elephant, looking very proud of herself, stuck her trunk in their air and began snorting out multicolored confetti that vanished with a harmless spark whenever it hit something.

“Hmm. How about, blue?” Fred asked the elephant. The confetti became all blue. “And now, how about green and red for Christmas?” The confetti complied.

“Ah, but that’s not all she can do!” George proclaimed. “Goldie, switch to fireworks!”

Some people screamed as fireworks burst out of the trunk, but soon realized they were of the safe type from the joke-shop, and everyone began laughing and clapping at the display. The elephant seemed to take joy in that-- though, Harry mused, it was made from a euphoria elixir, so maybe it simply reacted with joy for everything-- and started to prance around the room, Selardi eventually deciding to ride on its back and meow a surprisingly melodious tune, conveniently at the same time Mrs. Weasley turned on the Celestina Warbeck Christmas Special.

“Come on, I need a break,” Harry sighed, dragging Draco into the kitchen. The kitchen was being manned by some house-elves on loan from the Zabini and Greengrass families, as well as Winky and Dobby-- those two weren’t expected, but Dobby had found out about the party and showed up to help without asking, dragging his friend with him.

“Harry Potter!” Came a loud cheer. “How may Dobby help? Dobby is always happy to help!”

“Ah, no, that's okay, Dobby; I'm just feeling a bit overwhelmed, thought a quick break would be good,” Harry responded.

“Dobby?” Draco asked, a peculiar expression on his face. “I didn’t realize you were acquainted with Harry...”

“Master Draco!” the elf squeaked. “Dobby did not know Dobby would be seeing Master Draco again. Dobby is happy that Master Draco has finally befriended Harry Potter.”

“‘Finally’ befriended?” Harry looked at Dobby curiously. “What do you mean by that?”

“Why, when Master Draco returned the summer after his first year at Hogwarts, Master Draco talked much about Harry Potter. Master Draco was sad that Harry Potter was not Master Draco’s friend.”

Draco blushed. “Dobby! That… that was…”

Something suddenly occurred to Harry. “Dobby… when you visited me that summer, to try to convince me not to return, you mentioned how you had heard I was a great person, and knew about my encounter with Vol-- sorry, the Dark Lord. But if you were always in the manor, how did you hear of that?” Harry made note of how Draco was blushing vigorously at that question.

“Why, Master Draco told Dobby, of course! Master Lucius was not nice to Master Draco when Master Draco mentioned Harry Potter, so Master Draco instead talked to Dobby about the greatness of Harry Potter! Master Draco talked to Dobby about a lot of things.”

Harry turned to Draco, smiling broadly. “You liked me even then?”

“Sh-shut up.” Draco clearly was trying to stop the blush and maintain some semblance of poise, yet was not succeeding in that. “So, er, Dobby, you tried to convince Harry not to return? Why?”

“Why, because the Chamber of Secrets was being opened!”

Draco stared at Dobby in surprise. “You knew about that? How?!”

“Master Lucius mentioned it to some people visiting that had the Mark.”

“Well, why didn’t you tell me, then?”

“When Master Lucius realized Dobby had overheard, Dobby was punished severely and instructed not to tell anyone, especially not Master Draco. It was difficult enough for Dobby to warn Harry Potter. Dobby is sorry Dobby could not tell Master Draco as well.”

“Wait, Mr. Malfoy told you specifically not to talk to Draco about it?” Harry asked. “Why?”

“He probably knew I’d try to tell you myself if I knew,” Draco muttered sheepishly. “Er. But why’d my father know?”

Harry looked at Draco peculiarly. “You don’t know? Your dad’s the one who put the diary horcrux in Ginny’s cauldron when we crossed paths in Diagon Alley, which then possessed her to open the chamber.”

Draco blanched. “What? My father was the one who did that? Merlin. If he weren’t already dead, I’d kill him myself.”

Dobby’s eyes widened. “Master Lucius is dead? Dobby would say he is sorry, but Dobby is not actually sorry.”

Draco chuckled. “Don’t worry, Dobby; I’m not sorry, either.”

“But Master Draco thought so highly of Master Lucius, always wanting to make his father proud!”

“Yeah, as a child. That started crumbling when I got to Hogwarts, then fell away completely when making him proud became ‘being the Dark Lord’s pet vampire’. After that, I high-tailed it out of there.”

Dobby’s eyes widened further, if possible. “Master Draco is a vampire?” he whispered.

“So I am,” Harry told the elf. “But it’s a secret, Dobby, okay? Those here, Dumbledore, and a few others know, but that’s it. It would be very bad if others found out, especially the press. Understand?”

“Oh, yes, Dobby understands. Dobby will not say anything. But Dobby is confused. How has this come to be? When? Is Dobby okay asking this?”

Harry sighed. He hated explaining. “Yes, Dobby is-- er, you are, fine asking. Well, it’s a long story, but it boils down to this: Draco was turned by request of the Dark Lord, which was the final straw that led him to running away, and then a few months later I got gravely injured and Draco barely found me in time, making turning the only way to save me.”

“Dobby is very glad both Harry Potter and Master Draco are safe!” the elf declared. “Oh my. Dobby must now leave-- it seems Winky is needing help with plates. They is wobbling dangerously. Dobby suspects she has had butterbeer again. Dobby bids Harry Potter and Master Draco farewell.” The elf ran off.

“Wow. Draco, I had no idea you had been friends with Dobby as a kid-- I, er, kinda just assumed the whole family was bad to him, I suppose. Sorry about that. Er. Draco? You still with me?”

Draco was now focused on the fact that Kreature was staring at them nervously. “Er. Kreature? Do you need something?”

“Go on, tell them,” Luna, who apparently had been conversing with the elf, urged.

The elf was quiet for a bit, pondering, then decided to speak. “Kreature requests your help,” he muttered.

“Help with what?” Draco asked.

“Kreature can tell you have different magic, like this girl. This girl says you have stronger magic so can do it. Kreature has heard of you destroying things that are difficult to destroy. Kreature needs your help destroying something Master Regulus asked Kreature to destroy, but Kreature could not. Master Regulus died to get the item, and told Kreature to destroy it but not tell anyone about it… but Kreature must, as he needs help. The object seems to be growing in bad power.”

As Kreature went to retrieve the item, Luna explained to Harry and Draco in better detail what Kreature had told her about how Regulus had betrayed Voldemort by stealing an object from a cave-- unbeknownst to Voldemort-- with the intent to destroy it, dying in the process. Soon, the elf returned with the object: Slytherin’s Locket.

Harry gasped. The item pulsed with magic, revealing it to be just as they’d expected: a horcrux. “Kreature! We’ve been searching for that, actually! To do exactly what Regulus wanted-- destroy it.”

Kreature’s eyes widened. “If Kreature had known this, Kreature would have brought it to Masters Harry and Draco sooner!”

“But, we can't destroy it here; it wouldn’t be safe. These items tend to have spells and curses on them to fight when someone tries to destroy them. We have special items at Hogwarts that make it safer to destroy it.”

“Kreature understands.” He handed it to Harry. “Kreature trusts Master Harry.”

“Thank you, Kreature. You did well; Regulus would be proud.” Harry put the locket on, slipping it under his clothing; it felt heavier than it looked.

Kreature looked like he’d faint from the praise as he shambled off to help with the food-- dinner would be soon, it seemed, from the huge trays of food they were hovering to the dining room.

“Hey, Luna, why were you in here?” Draco wondered. “Did you need to get away from the crowd too?”

“No. I came to make more sangria. Mindy’s closing the custom bar since dinner is so soon, so wants all the self-serve pitchers full before then.”

Draco raised an eyebrow. “And she let you, of all people, make it?”

“Oh, I’ve been making it the whole night! She put me in charge of all the self-serve pitchers.”

Harry sighed. “Please tell me you used the regular recipe, and didn’t add anything… extra.” Last time Luna was put in charge of drinks, it had resulted in a huge mess.

Luna merely looked at Harry confused. “I would never put anything in a drink that didn’t belong in it.”

“So, you did put in something not in the normal recipe,” Harry pressed, catching the slight of phrase. What Luna felt belonged in things wasn’t always synonymous with what everyone else expected to be in them.

“Oh! Yes, I put the same thing I always put in sangria. It really isn’t proper sangria without it, though I don’t know why people often leave it out.”

“And that would be…?”

“Thalia, of course. It’s perfect for dinner parties. Makes people more festive.”

Draco rolled his eyes. “Yes, because wine definitely doesn’t do that already.”

Hermione wandered into the kitchen, holding a glass. “There you all are! Come on, dinner’s ready, everyone's waiting.”

“Hold on. Is that sangria you’re drinking?” Harry asked.

“Why yes, it-- hey!” Hermione complained, as Harry grabbed it from her. “Get your own!”

“You don’t want to drink this, trust me.”

“Luna spiked it,” Draco clarified.

“Spiked?” Hermione looked confused. “But it’s wine. You spike punch and things, not wine.”

“Spiked as in, something more than alcohol.”

Hermione looked horrified. “What? What’d she put in it? Ron’s parents have been drinking it!”

“Whoa, relax, Hermione!” Harry put a hand on her shoulder. “It’s just Thalia. It increases cheer, that’s all; basically a liquid cheering charm. It’ll amplify the effects of the alcohol, but is otherwise harmless.”

“And illegal!”

“Only because it can be used as a base for more dangerous potions,” Draco pointed out.

“But still! Illegal is illegal!”

Harry laughed. “Seriously, Hermione? You were entirely okay with drinking underage, if I recall. Pretty sure that’s illegal, too.”

Hermione blushed. “Th-that’s--!”

“Hey, where’d Luna go with the new pitcher?” Draco suddenly commented.

“Oh no. She didn’t bring it out there, did she? We need to get it! Tell them!”

“Hermione, do you really want to cause chaos for little reason?” Harry asked. “It’s harmless. Nothing will come of it, just a little extra cheer; is that really so bad, during wartime?”

Hermione looked conflicted, but after a few moments, she sighed. “I see your point. Fine, no need to tell them. I really must have a talk with Luna though; she really must stop giving people illegal substances without their consent.” 

Dinner was a much more extravagant affair than Harry typically would expect Sirius and Lupin to host, although that might be more to do with that it was catered by house-elves who currently or formerly served posh pureblood families. Hermione had tried letting some of their friends know what was in the sangria, but to her dismay, that caused most to either get more or start drinking it, so she gave up, the decision solidified when she grabbed a glass of it as well. Once dinner had ended, everyone returned to socializing while the house elves cleared the table and began preparing desserts, eggnog, coffees, and teas.

Instead of heading to the main room, Draco pulled Harry aside, ducking into a small corridor where they were alone. Before Harry could say anything, he was being pulled into a kiss. He moaned a little as he deepened it, curled his hands into Draco’s robe, and pressed up against him, Draco's arms folding around Harry’s waist tightly. Harry nibbled a little on Draco’s lip, drawing blood, which he sucked on a little. Draco slid his hands lower, squeezing Harry’s arse.

Harry broke the kiss. “Want to move this to the bedroom?” he muttered sensually, eyes half-lidded with desire.

“Yesss,” Draco purred. “But unfortunately, we’ll probably be missed... Continue later?”

Harry grinned. “Definitely. But do we really need to return immediately?” Harry nuzzled into Draco’s neck and sunk his fangs in deep. He was glad he hadn’t needed to wear the teeth retainer during the party, as everyone there knew what they were.

Draco gasped softly and closed his eyes. “Mmm… maybe we don’t have to return just yet…”

“Yes, you do,” came a disproving voice.

“Shit!” Harry swore, unlocking his fangs and spinning around. “Hermione!”

Hermione laughed. “You’re really lucky they keep sending me to find you! Mrs. Weasley considered looking herself, but the elephant made a firework chase her around the room.”

“I would have to agree with that,” Draco concluded. “I can’t even begin to fathom her reaction at finding us like this…”

 

*******

 

“Mmmm, that was wonderful, Draco,” Harry cooed, cuddling up to his boyfriend.

Draco merely moaned in agreement. It was hours after the party had ended, and they were of course in Harry’s room at Grimmauld Place, making good on the earlier promise to continue later. Most everyone had stayed over, as it had become so late, many were drunk, and there was certainly plenty of room. Everyone got to stay with whom they wanted, too, if not already passed out on a couch or chair, as Mrs. Weasley had fallen asleep on a couch in the sitting room.

“Hey, I have a gift for you!” Harry jumped up and scrambled over to his trunk-- as last year, they’d be staying here for part of the holiday break.

“Does it have to be now?” Draco complained. “I was comfortable!”

“Relax, you’re going to love this!” Harry leapt onto the bed, landing on top of Draco.

“Oww…”

“Stop teasing; I know that didn’t hurt. Now, sit up, or I’m going to start tickling you.”

“Hey! Don’t say that as you start doing it!”

Harry laughed in response.

“I swear, Luna must have slipped you something; you are way too giddy.”

“Nah, just still drunk. So are you.”

“Barely. You’re the one who needed to be carried up here.”

Harry squealed. “Hey! Don’t you tickle me now! Here.” He handed Draco a small box. “Happy Christmas.”

Draco slowly unwrapped the box, lifting out a small silver object, circular in shape, around ten centimeters across. An image of a silhouetted cat was carved into it on one side, and an ornate illuminated letter D on the other. There was a hinge on the side. Draco opened it. “A hand mirror?” he asked, in slight confusion.

“Actually, a two-way hand mirror.” Harry held up an identical one that instead had an H engraved. “Like the one we use to speak with Sirius and Lupin, but more portable. We can now know where the other is when not in pain.”

Draco grinned in delight. “It’s wonderful; I love it. And you.” He leaned over to kiss Harry briefly. “And I have something for you, as well.” Draco summoned a small wrapped gift from his own trunk; Harry blushed-- why hadn’t he thought of doing that? He handed Harry the box.

Harry gasped once he’d unwrapped the gift. “It’s beautiful! Did you make this?”

“Yes, I did!” Draco beamed, watching the little black bird sculpture flit around Harry. Upon closer inspection, the bird had scales instead of feathers, membranous wings, and a slightly elongated neck topped with a head resemblant of a horse’s. “It’s modelled after a shantak bird, made from genuine Inganok onyx.”

“You’re amazing. I could never transfigure something so detailed.”

“There’s more: if someone tries to harm you, it will attack them. Of course, it can’t do much damage, but it can be enough of a distraction to give you the upper hand.”

Harry pulled Draco into a tight hug. “I love you so much!”

Draco smiled affectionately and pet Harry’s hair. “And I you. Come on, let’s cuddle some more.”

“As cats?” Harry changed into his cat form.

Draco sighed. “Fine. As cats.” He changed too, and the two curled up on the bed, purring like motors.

 

*******

 

“Harry,” Draco called. “Come on, let’s get something to eat.”

“Not hungry,” Harry said from the couch, where he was curled up with a new book Hermione had given him for Christmas a few days prior.

“You haven’t eaten anything since yesterday morning. Sirius caught us some rabbits.”

“Just go away.”

Draco wandered over to Harry, and sat next to him. “No. I’m worried. You’ve been acting off the past few days.”

“Piss off.” Harry threw the book down and began to stomp away.

Draco grabbed his wrist before he could, holding tightly. “Seriously, what’s wrong? You’ve been in a horrific mood since yesterday, getting progressively worse… wait a second.” Draco stared at Harry’s chest, focusing. Yes, the locket under his shirt was pulsing with dark energy. “Take the locket off.”

Harry tried to squirm away from the hold. “You can’t order me around like--”

“Take. It. Off. Or else I’ll force you to.”

Harry’s face contorted into rage. “FINE!” He pulled the locket off and threw it at Draco. He then stood there for a moment, baffled, anger gone entirely. 

“Feeling better?” Draco asked tepidly, letting go of Harry and rubbing his eye, where the locket had slammed into him before dropping to the floor.

“Yeah, loads... maybe we shouldn’t wear it.”

Draco rolled his eyes. “You think? Probably shouldn’t have put it on in the first place.”

Harry’s eyes widened. “Shit! I gave you a black eye!”

Draco sighed. “It’ll be gone shortly, don’t worry about it. You weren’t exactly in control of your actions.”

“But, I hurt you…”

“Seriously, forget about it.” Draco reached down and picked up the locket. “Now, let’s find a good place for this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: The locket's disturbing curse and the exploration of some unsettling ruins.


	17. Dumbledore's Regrets and the Ruins of Oriab

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Out of what crypt they crawl, I cannot tell,  
> But every night I see the rubbery things,  
> Black, horned, and slender, with membraneous wings,  
> And tails that bear the bifid barb of hell.  
> They come in legions on the north wind’s swell,  
> With obscene clutch that titillates and stings,  
> Snatching me off on monstrous voyagings  
> To grey worlds hidden deep in nightmare’s well.
> 
> Over the jagged peaks of Thok they sweep,  
> Heedless of all the cries I try to make,  
> And down the nether pits to that foul lake  
> Where the puffed shoggoths splash in doubtful sleep.  
> But oh! If only they would make some sound,  
> Or wear a face where faces should be found!"
> 
> \--H.P. Lovecraft, "Fungi From Yuggoth, XX: Night-gaunts"

Harry tepidly knocked on Dumbledore’s door, right after dinner upon returning, not wanting to be as rude as he had been last time he visited the office. The door opened, and he and Draco walked in.

“To what do I owe this visit so soon after the holidays?” Dumbledore asked pleasantly.

Harry lifted the locket from his robes. “Turned out RAB was Regulus Black. It was in Grimmauld Place the entire time.”

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows. “Regulus? That is a surprise.”

Harry and Draco explained what Kreature had said occurred.

“I see.” Dumbledore’s eyes sparkled as he smiled. “Seems more than one Black child rebelled.” He chuckled. “Walburgia would be very proud, I’m sure. To think, it was in Order headquarters the entire time...”

“Yeah, pretty ironic! Watch, the next one will be at Hogwarts or something,” Draco laughed.

Harry sighed. “That would be too convenient. Life doesn’t tend to work that way, unfortunately; we already got one lucky break, there’s no way we’d get two.”

“Speaking of breaks, let’s break this thing.”

“Yes, I believe that would be for the best,” Dumbledore agreed, retrieving Gryffindor’s sword. Draco walked over to collect it.

Suddenly, the locket, sensing danger, tightened its chain around Harry’s throat. Harry tried tugging it away, to no avail.

“Okay, Harry, hand over the locket,” Draco said. When Harry didn’t respond, Draco turning back to his boyfriend, frowning. “Harry? Something wrong?”

Harry opened his mouth to speak, but with no air available, no sound came out. He frowned and pointed at his throat, shrugging helplessly.

“Bloody hell!” Draco darted over and tried to pull the chain away, to no avail. The clasp had welded itself together, and all the tugging in the world couldn’t loosen the thing. “Why the hell did you put the thing on again?!”

Dumbledore also dashed over, trying to use spells instead of strength, again to no avail.

Harry looked around for something to help, eyes falling on the sword. He tapped Draco and then pointed to it.

“Use the sword? But that could hurt you!”

Harry rolled his eyes, then bared his fangs. A small cut was nothing to a vampire, just as the chain wasn’t as much of a danger as it was merely annoying.

“Ah, right.” Draco rushed over to grab the sword, then back to Harry, looking nervous. He moved the sword to the front part of the chain, closest to the locket; Harry held it taught. He swiped the sword up, severing the chain. Yet despite the chain and locket now being separate, it stayed around Harry’s throat, attempting to tighten more.

Harry pointed to the part near his neck; Draco would have to cut it there, right against the skin.

Draco sighed in resignation. “I suppose there’s no choice. I’ll try my best not to cut you, but it’s going to be tough...”

Harry again rolled his eyes, then shook his head and made a dismissive motion with his hand.

“Okay, I get it, no need for all the attitude. Now, hold still.” Draco held the tip of the sword near the locket’s chain, trying to angle it so as to cut Harry’s neck the least, and lopped off the chain. It fell to the ground, some blood on it from the sword snagging Harry a little; a deep indent shone red around Harry’s neck.

“Thank you,” Harry croaked; the squeezing had crushed his esophagus a little, it seemed, but that would recover quickly. 

“No need for thanks. It’s apparently my job to save you from the consequences of your idiocracy,” Draco drawled playfully, eliciting both a cringe and smile from Harry. “Now, let’s destroy it. Who wants to do the honors?”

“I’ll do it.” Dumbledore said, in a manner suggesting finality. “However, I believe parseltongue is required for opening it.”

“So what should be said?” Draco asked. “Just open?” The last word came out as a hiss.

The locket clicked open, revealing what appeared to be Riddle’s pre-snake eyes, one behind each glass panel. Dumbledore picked up the sword, ready to pierce them, but then two bubbles emerged from it, forming into distorted images of people: one a man of blonde hair-- who, Harry noticed with a start, was scarily resemblant of a picture of Grindelwald he’d seen in a book, albeit younger-- and another which appeared to be a young girl.

Dumbledore paled, dropping the sword in shock. “Ariana? Gellert?”

The girl spoke first, but in Riddle’s voice. “Why, brother? Why did you kill me?”

“I-- I didn’t--”

“But of course you did! If it weren’t for you and your little boyfriend, that fight would never have occurred! I wouldn’t have been struck down trying to stop it! You should have just left; or better yet, never returned in the first place. You didn’t really care about the family. Aberforth would have looked after me, we’d have been perfectly fine without you.”

“You should have left with me!” Grindelwald said, also in Riddle’s voice. “What happened to ‘the greater good’? Why did you betray me, go against me? It’s what we wanted! Make those muggles pay for what they did to your sister! Show them that wizards are the ones superior!”

“No, that’s not what I--” Dumbledore seemed to have become entirely lost.

“Yes, dear brother. Muggles are who drove me to madness, yet now you seem to be their biggest advocate! Did you forget what they did to me? Forget how much our family suffered because of them? Father in Azkaban, Mother dead, me too unstable to leave the house…”

“You’re pathetic. I wish I’d never met you. If I hadn’t, perhaps then I’d be happy. Wouldn’t have turned into someone you hated.”

“I never hated--”

“Get a grip!” Draco yelled, grabbing the sword and slamming it into the horcrux. The bubbles vanished, and a wicked wailing sounded as blood poured out of the locket, now completely shattered.

Dumbledore snapped out of the trance, blinking and looking around, as if he was unaware of where he was, before his eyes came back into focus, a slight blush of embarrassment across his cheeks. “S-sorry you had to see that,” he muttered sheepishly.

“Mind explaining?” Harry asked, eyes narrowed and voice flat.

“That was Grindelwald, wasn’t it?” Draco whispered. “Was he really your…”

Dumbledore sighed. “We were friends, yes. Well, perhaps a little more than friends. Back then… well, let’s just say my experiences with the world were fairly narrow, especially concerning muggles. I found a kindred spirit in him, just a year after Hogwarts, when I returned to take care of my sister after our mother died after she had an accidental burst of magic-- you see, at age six, Ariana was harassed by a group of muggles who were afraid after seeing her do magic. My dad was sent to Azkaban after getting revenge on them. After that, my sister suppressed her magic as much as she could, making her prone to accidental outbursts of magic whenever it built up too much to hold in. And my sister did die trying to break up a duel between me, him, and my brother, though no one is sure whose curse did it. I am also sorry to say that the phrase Grindelwald ended up using as his slogan, ‘For the Greater Good’, was my idea. However! He twisted the vision severely! I never wanted what he ended up doing in the end. Never all that violence and terror. And through my years, as my experiences with different sorts of people grew, my views changed a lot. I am by far no longer the same person I was when I was 18; who would be, after over a century? I learned more about people, learned not to divide by such extreme lines.”

Harry’s brain was spinning. “So you--”

“I understand,” Draco burst. “I grew up having pureblood rhetoric drilled into me. I never interacted with a muggleborn, let alone a muggle. I honestly believed what my father and his friends said about them. But then I came to Hogwarts. I saw that the lines between those of different blood were not as severe; in fact, there’s really no lines at all. I’m even good friends with a muggleborn now, whereas before I’d have been disgusted to even speak with her. Hell, I still parroted those beliefs my first few years, trying to deny that my father had been wrong. So I understand completely how you could agree with his rhetoric at first, then learn better later.”

Dumbledore smiled weakly. “Thank you, Draco. Harry? Are you okay?”

“What? Yeah, I’m fine, sorry. It’s just a lot to take in. I suppose the trap must make you face your regrets and insecurities or something.”

Dumbledore nodded. “Yes, that sounds about right.” He still seemed shaken up, though trying to hide it.

“You know, we-- I, can see auras. It’s okay to show emotion, you know,” Harry told Dumbledore sagely.

Dumbledore gave a wan smile. “Ah, yes. There’s no hiding things from you.”

“Harry, perhaps we should go now; he probably would like to be left alone,” Draco whispered.

“Ah, right. Well, we’ll be taking our leave now, if you don’t mind-- unless you’d prefer someone to stay?”

Dumbledore smiled softly. “Thank you, but I will be fine. Goodnight, boys.”

When they had reached the bottom of the staircase, Harry and Draco could hear soft sobs coming from the office.

 

*******

 

“You’re serious?” Blaise looked at the two vampires and part-goddess in awe. 

“Yes. I accidentally brought Dumbledore once, though it was tough on me, and since then have been able to take Luna fairly easily. I’m pretty certain I’ll be able to take you without incident.”

“But, I thought not even that pharaoh god thing could take full-humans there?”

“Oh, he lied about that,” Luna said without pause. “He does that.”

“Yeah, apparently he just doesn’t like humans very much,” Harry supplied, then paused a moment. “Well, that’s not entirely true. He does like them, just not how humans usually think of when they hear the word ‘like’. It’s complicated.”

“Well, he’s a cosmic entity,” Blaise pointed out. “If his emotions were the same as human emotions, I’d be shocked. I don’t think it’s really possible to fully understand him.”

“Probably not,” Draco agreed. “Anyway, back to the topic: are you in?”

“Hmm. Well, I’ve always been curious about that place you’re constantly going to. But if I go, what about Luna?”

“Oh, Draco has been practicing taking me,” Luna answered. “He will do it.”

“Well, okay then! Just one more question: why me? I thought you’d choose Hermione first, or Ginny, or anyone but me. Though it is a test… perhaps I’m simply most disposable, so if you mess up it’s fine?”

“Blaise!” Draco looked horrified. “You’ve been my closest friend since before I met any of the others! Don’t you dare call yourself disposable!”

“Relax, Draco, I was just joking.”

“Well, don’t joke like that again.” Draco had a suspicion Blaise had not fully been joking, though-- and his aura agreed, a grey cloud following him. He hid it well, but he was more broken than he let on, as they too were. That was the main reason they’d chosen Blaise over the others. The Gryffindors all had each other to be supportive-- yes, they were friends with Blaise, definitely, but at the end of the day, when curfew hit, they all returned to their tower together while Blaise had to go to either the empty dorm room or the lounge to sleep. It had been wearing away on him; perhaps no one else noticed due to the brilliant facade he put up, but he couldn’t fool the three who saw auras.

“Right. So, any particular place you’re interested in seeing?” Harry asked.

“Er. What was that place Luna kept raving about, with the zebras?”

“Ah! Oriab! Nice choice.”

“But we will get drinks in Dylath-Leen first, as usual,” Luna reminded them.

 

*******

 

“I love zebras,” Luna purred, leaning down to hug the neck of the one she and Harry were riding. The zebra snorted in annoyance.

“Luna, that isn’t the safest way to ride it; if you fall off, you could be in trouble,” Harry warned. “Remember, earthly magic doesn’t work here, and we don’t yet know other types of healing magic, so we’re limited to what’s in the first-aid kid.”

“You carry around a first-aid kit?” Blaise asked curiously, from the zebra next to them, shared by him and Draco. “Like, a muggle one?”

Draco sighed. “Unfortunately it has become a necessity. But it’s not all muggle stuff. There’s salves and things that do have magic imbued in them; just different magic than wizards on Earth use.”

“Cosmic magic?”

“No, just different magic. The nature-based magic Firenze teaches works here too. Just not anything using a wand.”

“I see… honestly, all these categories of magic can get a mite confusing.”

“Oh, we understand,” Harry told his friend. “It confuses us too… hey, where are we going, by the way?”

“What?” Draco looked startled. “We’re the ones following you!”

“I thought you were in the lead!”

“It’s okay, I told the zebras where to take us,” Luna said knowingly.

“And where might that be?” Draco asked tepidly.

“There.” Luna pointed a little off into the distance at broken clay-brick buildings and towers, the ruins of what once seemed to have been a primal city.

“What!” Harry squeaked. “We are not going to the ruins! Have you heard what people say about them?”

“Relax, Harry. It’s the middle of a sunny day; it’s only during the night people must fear them.”

“Says who?”

“Well, people only claim to see things or disappear during the night. So it stands to reason that the day is fine.”

Everyone had to agree that that was a fair point, and they all were naturally curious about those ruins. So they allowed the zebras to lead them over to the decaying clay city. As the approached an ancient clay temple, they hopped off the zebras and tethered them to a strange pillar by a broken wall so they could explore the crumbling building. There were some very old bones near the pillar, possibly a zebra’s, but though noting them, they paid it little heed.

“These are interesting carvings,” Blaise mused, examining the wall. “Do any of you know what they say?” None of them did.

Luna skipped into the temple, and the others followed. It was getting to be twilight, but the sun hadn’t set yet, so they figured it should be fine. When they discovered an old staircase near a dias, Draco dug through his pack-- luckily, extension charms placed before entering still held-- to bring out a lantern, lighting it with some fire magic. He, Harry, or Luna could have just made a ball of lightning or fire float around them, true, but that took concentration and energy, and who knew what they would encounter here? So holding the lantern out, he descended the steps, the others following. The stairs were long and narrow, but eventually the passageway levelled out. There were many tiny rooms along the sides, with only hinges, splinters, and dust remaining of the wooden doors that once stood in the empty frames. 

Harry went into a room-- he could see somewhat okay, despite the light of the lanturn being in the hallway. His foot kicked into something metallic, and he looked down. A chamber pot? And, next to it… oh, that was definitely a skeleton. A very humanoid skeleton. Harry swore and dashed out of the room, running straight into Draco.

“Harry! There you are; thank Merlin!” Draco called. “Come on, let’s get out of here-- I think this was a prison.”

“Yeah, I figured such; that room has a skeleton.”

“Why would there be a prison underneath a temple?” Blaise wondered.

“Probably for sacrifices.” How could Luna say such with a straight face?

The four jumped at the sound of a bell gonging, dashing back out of the dungeons to the dias. Through the now-roofless temple they glimpsed an ancient bell tower, gleaming red in the sunset. Someone had to be up there ringing the bell, for it was too ancient to be automatic; Harry squinted towards it, and, yes, there was a shadow of someone, no, someTHING, ringing the bell.

“Can you apparate us out now, or do we still need to wait? I’m getting a really creepy feeling from that bell...” Blaise’s voice quivered near the end.

“We need to bring back the zebras,” Luna reminded them. “Besides, it’s only a bell. I’m sure whatever is ringing it just wants to make music. Music is calming, after all.”

“There is nothing calming about that bell. It’s utterly oneiric,” Draco muttered, as they quickly headed out of the temple, to where the zebras were tethered, now resting. No, not resting… Draco let out a gasp.

Harry leaned down to look at the nearest zebra. “They’re drained dry of blood, through some weird circular wounds.”

“There’s also distinctly not-human webbed footprints here,” Blaise added. 

While they had been examining the zebras, the sun had fully set, and an odd haze settling around them. It was eerily silent, and the four froze, momentarily unsure what to do.

“The bell stopped,” Luna noted.

As if waiting for such a signal, grotesque flapping was heard, and through the mist around them slender pitch-black rubbery horned things appeared, membranous wings and bifid tails undulating sinuously. Though vaguely humanoid, they lacked one significant feature: a face. Despite such, the group could feel their silently stare. A cold wind blew, though the mist remained completely unaffected.

After some moments, Draco dropped the lanturn, snapping them out of their frozen state. As the night-gaunts sprung forwards, he grabbed Luna and Harry grabbed Blaise, praying that enough time had passed to again apparate them between worlds safely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Therapy, Yig visits, a new ability, and general schenanigans.


	18. Snakes, Pencils, and Rats

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "It seems that Yig, the snake-god of the central plains tribes—presumably the primal source of the more southerly Quetzalcoatl or Kukulcan—was an odd, half-anthropomorphic devil of highly arbitrary and capricious nature. He was not wholly evil, and was usually quite well-disposed toward those who gave proper respect to him and his children, the serpents...
> 
> Yig’s chief trait was a relentless devotion to his children—a devotion so great that the [native people] almost feared to protect themselves from the venomous rattlesnakes which thronged the region. Frightful clandestine tales hinted of his vengeance upon mortals who flouted him or wreaked harm upon his wriggling progeny; his chosen method being to turn his victim, after suitable tortures, to a spotted snake."
> 
> \--H.P. Lovecraft, excerpt from "The Curse of Yig"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you started reading this before today (Feb. 11), please note that I added a little to the beginning of chapter 11. Reading it doesn't change anything--  
> it's just a brief bit where Harry's in therapy talking about how he still craves blood and Madam Strout suggests he ask Draco about it. It was originally at the start of this chapter, but I added Harry confessing to Draco he craved it to chapter 15 while editing, as I'd remembered I needed them to talk about it but misrecalled where that therapy scene appeared (that's on me for not double-checking). The whole thing with Blaise last chapter was also an unexpected addition, so I made the therapy scene here talk about that instead of the blood.

“I’m… not doing so well,” Harry reluctantly admitted.

“And why do you think that, dear?” Healer Strout asked gently.

“You know, similar to the usual stuff,” Harry looked everywhere but at the healer. Did she have to make him clarify everything?

“Yes, but you need to go into more detail.” Yes, apparently she did. “It’s part of the healing process. Things won’t get better if you keep it all bottled up.”

Harry sighed. “Yeah, I know. It’s just tough.”

“Well, of course it is. Everyone finds talking about painful experiences difficult. If it is too much for now, you don’t have to say anything, but it is recommended.”

“Right.” Harry took a deep, though unnecessary, breath. “It’s just… everytime I try to do something good in this world, it seems to backfire.”

“Did something happen recently to make you feel this way, or have you been thinking it for a while?”

“I’m not sure. A while, maybe. But an incident yesterday reinforced it…”

“An incident?”

Harry hesitated. He supposed telling her wouldn't hurt. “Blaise has been feeling down lately, so we took him to the Dreamlands to go do something fun. A bar followed by a port-town where we visited artsy shops and rode zebras and swam in the lake. It was going well, until we decided to explore some old ruins. There’s nasty rumors about them, but only in the nighttime, and we were there during the day so thought it would be fine. But we weren’t paying attention, and the sun went down. When we returned to where we left the zebras, we found them dead, and then were surrounded by a group of awful beasts, although different than those that killed the zebras. We barely managed to apparate out in time. His first trip there, meant to be pleasant, ended up traumatic! He’ll never want to go again now. I shouldn’t have let Luna talk us into going to those ruins.”

Healer Strout merely smiled. “Are you sure he’ll never want to go, or are you assuming things again?”

“Well…”

“As I thought. You need to talk to people before assuming--”

“Wait.” Harry froze. “Something’s coming, I can feel it. Something big.” His eyes grew wide. “I think it’s an Old One. Shit!”

Draco burst through the doors. “Harry! Do you feel that?! You don’t think--”

“I don’t know, but we better investigate. I’m sorry, Madam Strout-- this has to be cut short!”

Harry and Draco dashed out of Madam Strout’s office in the Hospital Wing, heading to the entrance hall as quickly as possible. The door opened, revealing what appeared to be a thin yet muscular Native American man, but who had red snake-like eyes, no hair anywhere, skin that looked almost like scales, slits instead of nostrils, and snakes instead of arms. Harry shivered slightly; the face was closely resemblant to Voldemort’s.

 _“Yig,”_ Harry whispered, not at all surprised that parseltongue came out. _“You’re the Old One that Voldemort was trying to recruit.”_

Yig scoffed. _“That maniac? He makes mockery of my children; I will never bow to him, nor anyone! And do not associate me with the Old Ones; I am far superior.”_

 _“What are you, then?”_ Draco asked.

_“I am Yig, progenity of serpents. The one who has had legends borne from him, legends such as Quetzalcoatl. Ruler of all serpent kind.”_

_“And what are you doing here?”_

_“I have come to collect one of my children who resides here. The maniac visited me again, this time with protections, but I glimpsed his mind. He tried to control my child multiple times, and she is trapped here; I have come to rescue her.”_

Harry and Draco looked at each other with worry. _“You don’t mean the basilisk…?”_ Harry ventured.

_“Why yes, I do. Do you know where she resides?”_

Harry bit his lip. _“Well, the maniac commanded her to attack me… I had no choice but to defend myself.”_

Yig stiffened. _“Defend? Defend how?”_

Harry cringed. _“Well, I was about to be killed… so I took a sword, and as she attacked me, I…”_

_“You killed my child?! You shall pay!”_

_“But it was in self-defense!”_ Draco interrupted. _“He had no choice!”_

_“Excuses! I shall go revive my child, and she will devour you!”_

Harry’s head spun. What could he do here? Oh. _“Er. Not sure you want to do that…”_

_“And just why not?”_

_“Well, we’re kinda Nyarlathotep’s pets, and have Azathoth’s protection…”_

_“The trickster and idiot god? Hmph. They do not scare me.”_ Though he said such, there was a slight waiver in his voice. No aura to confirm it, though-- the emotions of such entities were beyond their ability to observe or comprehend. 

_“Please do not harm my friends,”_ A new voice said. 

_“And just who are you?”_

_“Apollo, sir. These are my friends. They raised me since I was young. They love snakes, and I love them. Please do not harm them.”_

Yig considered this for a moment. _“Fine,”_ he decided, turning back to Harry. _“I will not harm you. But only because one of my children wishes it. Now, if you excuse me, I will be retrieving my child.”_ Yig stormed through the castle in search of the basilisk, giving no heed to Dumbledore, whom had arrived soon after the discussion began yet merely stood there watching the exchange.

“What is going on here?” Dumbledore asked, with a deep frown. “What were you talking about with that creature?”

Harry took a deep breath to help calm himself. “That was Yig, the god of serpents. Voldemort tried to recruit him again-- failing utterly of course-- and in the process Yig discovered he had commanded the basilisk imprisoned here against her will, which made him very mad. He’s gone to retrieve her. Which apparently means revive her. He wanted to kill me for killing her, but Apollo here begged him not to, and he obliged.”

Dumbledore took a moment to process this. “He plans to revive the basilisk? How will he get it out?”

“I would assume through the hallways.”

“Then we must act quickly. All students between here and the chamber’s entrance ought to remain in the classrooms or return to the nearest one to hide. Could you help me with this? The basilisk will not affect you.”

Quickly the three of them dashed around, letting those in classrooms know not to come out and making sure anyone in a hallway speedily retreated to a classroom. After a bit, Yig emerged from the girl’s bathroom which housed the Chamber entrance, followed by a very happy-looking basilisk. The two made their way over to Harry. He met the basilisk’s eyes, a deep lime green resemblant of the killing curse. Dumbledore was right: the basilisk’s glare did not affect him. Harry did his best to remain calm, especially as he was alone.

 _“Thank you,”_ the basilisk said to him. She was smaller than Harry remembered, although he had been 12 at the time so he supposed that made sense.

_“Thank you? Why are you thanking me? I killed you.”_

_“Yes. You freed me from my bindings. Death was a relief in comparison to being chained here, then forced to kill by that Riddle boy.”_

_“You… didn’t want to kill?”_

_“No. I prefer not to kill sentient creatures. I only kill such in self-defense, just as Yig here only harms those who harm his children.”_

_“Speaking of such,”_ Yig interrupted. _“I will forgive you for harming my daughter here. Learning of the situation, I realize you did not do so out of dislike. You have made friends with other children of mine, more than just the runespoor, correct?”_

_“Well, I’ve talked to one before, at a zoo. I made the glass disappear, so he could escape, though I don’t know what happened to him…”_

_“Ah, so you are the one who freed him. Yes, I met him; he returned safely to Brazil. You are kind to my children. If you ever require my help, young cosmic vampire, you have it. I bid ye farewell.”_ With that, Yig and the basilisk began to walk and slither away, the basilisk hissing a bit in Yig’s ear. Yig then returned to Harry. _“My daughter has suggested a gift would be suitable. I shall grant you her power.” Yig made to touch Harry’s forehead._

Harry backed up. _“What do you mean, her power?”_

_“Why, the gaze, of course. If you wish, you’ll be able to kill with a glance.”_

_“I don’t want that.”_

_“But whyever not? It is a useful ability.”_

_“I don’t need such to kill.”_

_“I see. Then perhaps the ability to become a snake at will? I will give you that. Here.”_ Yig bit Harry’s wrist with one of his snake-arms, and Harry felt a strange power flow through him as he winced from the pain. _“Enjoy,” Yig bid, then left Hogwarts with the basilisk._

 

*******

 

Harry and Draco settled onto their usual spot in the lounge later that night, Harry laying on Draco’s lap with his legs over the arm of the loveseat. They’d just finished a vigorous study session with their friends-- NEWTs were still a few months away, but that hadn’t deterred the professors from assigning more work as soon as winter break had finished.

“So, are you going to tell me what the basilisk and Yig talked to you about, now?” Draco asked curiously.

“You know I talked to them?”

“I could faintly hear you, though not loudly enough to make much out.”

Harry sighed. “Well, the basilisk thanked me for killing her. Apparently being chained to the castle and forced to obey the heir was fairly traumatic for her, especially since she hates killing humans-- yeah, I was surprised at that too. Then Yig remembered a boa constrictor I accidentally freed from a zoo as a kid, and decided I was a kindred spirit. He said if I ever want his help with anything, I have it, and then gave me a gift.”

“Gift?”

“A second animagus form. A snake.”

Draco’s eyes widened. “Wow.” Then he noticed the aura. “You don’t seem very happy about it, though. What kind of snake is it? Not a basilisk?”

“I hope not. He initially wanted to give me the basilisk glare as the gift, but when I said no to that he gave me this instead, without asking. Which involved biting my wrist, apparently.” He held up his wrist, showing the snake bite, which hadn’t healed fully yet.

“Oh wow. But, you haven’t found out what sort of snake?”

“No.”

“Might I ask why not?”

Harry was quiet for a moment, then closed his eyes. “I’m scared,” he admitted quietly. 

“Scared of what?” Draco asked, wrackspurts circling him, as he ran his hand absentmindedly through Harry’s hair. “That you’ll be a basilisk? Or you’ll attack someone?”

Harry nodded. “The latter. Remember fifth year, when I saw Ron’s father being attacked? I saw it from the snake’s eyes…”

“Ah. So you’re afraid it’ll be to similar? Bring back those memories?”

“...Yes.”

“Hmm. Well, I’ll be right here, if something goes wrong. You trust me, right?”

“Of course. With my life,” Harry said immediately, not having to think about it at all.

“Good. So, try it out. See what you are. Remember, whatever it is, it won’t be able to hurt a vampire, even if it’s got the deadliest poison it can have.”

“True… okay. I’ll try it.” Harry stood up and concentrated on becoming a snake.

Harry flicked his tongue out, tasting the air. This felt so strange. The experience was very different than his vision had been, for he was in control this time, he had no task to be compelled to do. Different than even the cat’s form-- whereas that had instincts to control, this didn’t seem to have any. Yig probably intentionally didn’t include such, for which Harry was grateful. He moved a little; he felt like one giant muscle. He opened his mouth wide, then snapped it closed. He could feel fangs, and an odd pressure behind them. Venom, he realized with a start. Odd, though; weren’t venomous fangs larger than this? He turned to see himself. He was a fairly small snake, and thin, not at all like the larger species Nagini was. Completely smooth, no ridges or hood. Three feet in length, perhaps? The coloration was alternating thick bands of dark blue-grey and black with slimmer pale yellow bands between them. That was unusual colors for a snake. He turned to look at Draco-- oh. He’d have to ask Draco what colors he was, then, when he changed back; apparently snakes couldn’t see as many colors as humans. 

_“How are you feeling?”_ Draco asked. Oh, right. The magic would cause him to automatically speak parseltongue to him, being a snake.

_“Okay, I suppose. It’s different than the vision was. I guess it’s because the species is so different. What colors am I?”_

_“You can’t tell?”_

_“It seems snakes see less colors, or at least this species does.”_

_“Well, the thicker bands are crimson red and black, alternating, and the thinner bands are honey-yellow.”_

_“Hmm. Do you know the species? There’s venom, but the fangs are small…”_

_“No. I don’t think it’s native to here. Maybe we can find a book in the library on snakes.”_

Harry changed back to vampire form. “Okay. Let’s go.”

Draco laughed. “Hold up. Library’s closed now; it can wait until tomorrow. Come here.” Draco reached out and grabbed Harry’s waist, pulling Harry onto the loveseat with him. A moan escaped Harry’s lips as Draco immediately sank his fangs into his neck.

 

*******

 

“All I can find are books on magical snakes!” Harry complained. He and Draco were in the library, trying to figure out the species of snake Harry could change into.

“Here’s a book on snake venom use in potions,” Draco said. “Maybe in here?”

“What are you looking for?” Luna asked, appearing from who-knows-where.

“Oh. Yig gave me the ability to change into a snake yesterday, but we don’t know the species,” Harry told her casually, leafing through the book Draco found.

“Really? May I see?” Luna asked.

“Sure, I guess.” Harry changed into the snake-form briefly.

Luna smiled. “Red and yellow, kill a fellow; red and black, friend of Jack.”

“Who’s Jack?” Draco asked, confused.

“It’s a rhyme to remember the difference between the poisonous coral snake and the harmless king snake that mimics it.” Luna drifted over to the shelf and picked out a book, handing it to Harry. “It’s probably in here.”

“Reptiles of North America?” Harry leafed through the book. “Oh! Coral snake! Oh wow; there’s a bunch of them.”

“That’s the one,” Draco pointed at a photo. “Eastern Coral Snake.”

“Ah, makes sense. Yig usually resides in North America. Let’s see… one of the most potent venoms of all North American snakes… very few humans actually get bit as they are reclusive and generally reluctant to bite, preferring to flee first… fangs are relatively small and inefficient for venom delivery, thus they tend to hold onto prey and make chewing motions when biting… feeds on lizards, frogs, rodents, smaller snakes, and similar… tend to average three feet in length… oh, actually, the eastern one is only about two to three feet… oh, and the eastern one cannot control the amount of venom delivered if it decides to envenomize the bite-- hey, I didn’t know snakes controlled whether or not they use venom in a bite! That’s good to know.”

“Why? Do you plan to bite someone?” Luna asked, as though they were discussing the weather.

“Er. No, Luna. No, I don’t plan to bite anyone as a snake. It’s just good to know in case I ever do need to defend myself in snake form.”

“Will you get lost in snake form like you do as a kitten?”

“Lost…? Oh. No, I didn’t feel any snake instincts there. I think Yig only gave me the form; so it’s not quite the same as an animagus in that regard.”

“A little bit of a let-down, though,” Draco mused. “Could have been a python, or rattlesnake, or viper, or asp, but no, it had to be the smaller one that, despite having potent venom, can’t control it…”

“Oh, I think it is very apt for Harry,” Luna informed them. “He is small and has potent magic that he has trouble controlling, too.”

Harry rolled his eyes, voice laden with sarcasm. “Thanks, Luna. Real confidence builder, there.”

“You’re welcome.”

 

*******

 

“Harry, stop playing with the candlelight, I’m trying to study,” Hermione complained. She, Harry, and Draco were doing homework in the lounge.

“Then use a flashlight.”

Hermione sighed. “You know the high concentrations of magic here don’t allow anything using electricity to work. The flashlight would need very expensive modifications, like your Walkman has, to work properly.”

“Yes, but aren’t there magical flashlights? You can’t tell me that someone hasn’t created a magical light-giving object yet.”

“That would be because there’s a spell to do so.”

“Right, but that can’t be held forever without concentration. There has to be some sort of magical lantern-- wait a second. There were some of those at Bill and Fleur’s wedding! Why doesn’t Hogwarts use those?”

“The floating gold ones? They used a phosphorescent resin. It absorbed sunlight during the day, and then slowly released it. It’s easier to just light wall torches than move those kind inside and outside each day, and on cloudy days it wouldn’t work.”

Harry looked at Hermione with incredulity. “Wait. So they were basically the same as the plastic stars kids stick on their ceilings?”

“Exactly the same, just magically enhanced to last longer.”

“So you’re saying that the wizards are using a muggle technology like that, but don’t have the sense to use some basic much older things like pencils?”

Hermione shrugged. “Hey, I have as little clue as you do on that front.”

“You know, muggles do have quite a few things over wizarding society,” Draco mused. “If wizards could incorporate some of their things or adapt them to magical use, that would springboard us way ahead of the muggles-- as it stands now, their technology is catching up to the limits of wizard technology.”

Hermione chuckled. “Never imagined I’d hear you say that.”

“It’s true, though! Did you know they have something called cell-phones now, that allow you to communicate with anyone else who has one regardless of where you are? The closest wizards have to that are two-way mirrors, which are extremely rare and expensive!” Otherwise, we use owls to send letters. You know how muggles send letters? Instantly through their computers!”

“Not all muggles have those things though,” Hermione pointed out. “Most still use home phones and use the post, the latter which owls are still faster than.”

“Yes, but think about ten years from now. The muggles went from creating simple flying machines to going to the moon within sixty years-- which, I might add, is an extremely impressive feat wizards have not done. A few decades ago, their computers were the size of a room, and now they fit on a desk. I can guarantee you that in another decade or two, they’ll find a way for them to fit in pockets, and cell phones will overtake home phones. They’ll probably find a way to incorporate televisions into them too, allowing them to watch things or even talk face-to-face from anywhere. Muggles will fully overtake wizards on the communications front, unless we start improving ours too.”

“And they definitely have already on the writing front,” Harry grumbled, still on the pencils, trying to clean an ink-spill off his essay. “Seriously, would using pencils kill them? Or at the very least, fountain-pens?”

“We use pencils in Muggle-Studies,” Draco said smugly.

“What? No way! Do you have any with you?”

“Yes, but I don’t think the professors--”

“I’ll just transfigure the graphite to ink afterwards.”

“Graphite? Isn’t it called lead?”

“No, lead is toxic,” Hermione clarified. “They use graphite in pencils. The core of a pencil is only called lead because they initially mistook graphite for such upon discovering the deposit, as they didn’t yet know the difference. Once they did find out, the name was already fully ingrained upon people.”

“Is there anything you don’t know?” Draco marvelled.

“Hmm… the meaning of life,” Hermione teased.

“That’s 42,” Harry chuckled. “It’s from a muggle book,” he clarified, seeing Draco’s puzzled stare. “I’ll lend it to you.”

“Sure… but if it’s another of those science-fiction type ones with all the strange machines, you’ll have to be explaining a lot to me again.” 

“Boys? Let’s get back to our potions essays, okay?” Hermione suggested. “We’ve wasted a lot of time. Harry, the lights, please?”

“It’s only nine. We have ten whole hours until breakfast,” Harry mused, still making the fire dance in strange patterns.

“Yes, but I, unlike you, need to sleep eventually. Fix the candles, now. Please.”

Draco sighed as Harry pretended not to hear her. “You know what? Let me try something we were working on in Natural Magic…” He pressed his hands together, and slowly opened them as he turned them over, forming a crackling ball of lightning, which he then hovered near Hermione, providing plenty of light for her. “Does that work?”

Hermione looked at him, stunned. “W-wait a second. Weren’t we just talking about how electricity doesn’t work around magic?”

Draco shrugged. “Guess it’s different when not in something? Or maybe it’s because the lightning was made with magic? Harry, don’t you dare! You have fire to play with!”

Harry grinned. “Isn’t the rule usually ‘don’t play with fire’?”

Draco laughed. “With you, fire’s one of the safer things to play with.”

 

*******

 

“Hey, Hermione, can I borrow your potions essay?” Harry asked at breakfast the next morning.

Ron raised an eyebrow. “Weren’t you two working on it together last night, with Draco?” Suspicion flickered through his aura.

Hermione snorted. “Draco and I were. Harry was goofing off, playing with fire. Literally. Which he can apparently do in cat-form, too.” She turned to Harry. “Though you still had the entire night after I left to do it.”

Harry blushed slightly. “I, er, got distracted.”

Hermione sighed. “By a bottle of firewhiskey, or by hormones?”

“...both? I think?”

“And you chased a rat around the castle for a good two hours before gracefully catching it and bringing it to me as a gift,” Draco drawled, joining them.

Ron crinkled his nose in disgust. “You did what?”

“I was a cat,” Harry muttered, sinking into his seat, ashamed.

Draco sighed. “I cannot wait until the day you finally learn not to change while drunk.”

Neville came over to them with a young boy, a first year by the looks of it. “Hey, this kid is missing his pet rat, have you seen any around? It’s one of those fancier ones, a mix of white and grey.”

Harry and Draco both paled.

Hermione noted this. “No, we haven’t, but we’ll tell you if we do,” she promised, and the kid and Neville moved along.

“You know, the more I think about it, the more I realize how much of a bloody miracle it was that Scabbers never got eaten, what with so many cats around,” Ron mused.

“That’s probably because he wasn’t an actual rat,” Hermione reminded him.

“W-well, yeah, but still!”

Harry had his head in his hands. “I killed someone’s pet…” He lifted his head, face horrified. “Oh god. Draco. You don’t think we’ve killed other peoples’ pets, too?” he whispered panically. 

Draco remained calm, though there was a hint of worry in his aura. “I don’t see how we could have… we always stay away from owls when hunting, and cats of course are sacred. The only other animal technically permitted is a toad, which is utterly gross in both vampire and cat form. Rats are rarely brought, with so many cats around… I mean, that’s all people really have, right? There’s not much of a chance we would have gotten anyone else’s pet, right?” He was definitely looking worried now, too.

“Boys, calm down,” Hermione urged. “Cats eat rats. That’s what they do. You can’t be blamed for such. Here, what did you do with the body? We could bring it to him and say Crookshanks got it.”

Harry put his head in his hands again, mumbling something they couldn’t catch. Hermione looked at Draco for clarification.

“Ah. Well, you see, it, well…” Draco looked fairly uncomfortable, too. “There wasn’t much left of it…”

“Okay, this is too gross,” Ron declared. “Please can we change the subject?”

“What’d I miss?” Neville asked, joining them. “You okay, Harry?”

“No…” Harry muttered, looking at Neville with a forlorn face. “That rat you were asking about… we know where it is…”

“Really? That’s great!” Neville stood up. “I’ll go get--” 

“Don’t!” Harry said, pulling Neville back down.

“What? Why not?”

“I ate it.” 

“You… Why?”

Harry shrugged. “I was a cat. That’s what cats do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: a mysterious graveyard is found...


	19. The Tomb

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "The place was an ancient cemetery; so ancient that I trembled at the manifold signs of immemorial years. It was in a deep, damp hollow, overgrown with rank grass, moss, and curious creeping weeds, and filled with a vague stench which my idle fancy associated absurdly with rotting stone. On every hand were the signs of neglect and decrepitude, and I seemed haunted by the notion that Warren and I were the first living creatures to invade a lethal silence of centuries.  
> ...  
> The removal of the slab revealed a black aperture, from which rushed an effluence of miasmal gases so nauseous that we started back in horror. After an interval, however, we approached the pit again, and found the exhalations less unbearable. Our lanterns disclosed the top of a flight of stone steps, dripping with some detestable ichor of the inner earth, and bordered by moist walls encrusted with nitre."
> 
> \--H.P. Lovecraft, excerpt from "The Statement of Randolph Carter"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is heavily based on Lovecraft's short story "The Statement of Randolph Carter." I recommend reading it; as all of Lovecraft's works, it's free to read online. If you have a free ten minutes, check it out.

Harry eyed the deer hungrily as he prepared to spring. Suddenly, something whooshed by, crashing into the deer and snapping its neck; in other words, stealing HIS kill! Harry growled, springing at the being who did so, tackling him to the ground.

“Aww, was that your deer?” Draco sneered, though more to tease than patronize.

“Yes! And you knew it, too! I saw you watching me!”

“Well, what do you plan to do about that?” Draco teased, voice slightly husky.

Harry’s face flushed a little as he realized that his tackle had left him straddling Draco while holding his wrists down-- and both were shirtless, as they usually were when hunting. Harry let go of the wrists and made to move away, but Draco had other plans, wrapping his arms around Harry and pulling him down to lay flush on top of him, pressing their lips together in a heated kiss. Draco’s hands slowly slid down, sneaking under his boyfriend’s trousers to cup his arse, upon which Harry let out a lustful moan and pressed his hips forwards.

Suddenly, Draco froze, mid-gasp. “Wait. I hear something.”

Harry groaned, but not from pleasure. “Please don’t be the centaurs again… they’re always interrupting…”

“No, this sounded like a girl’s voice; listen.”

Harry tilted his head slightly and concentrated. Yes, there was a voice, off in the distance; it sounded upset, and distinctly female, though it was too far away to recognize what was being said. “Think we should go check it out?”

“Definitely,” Draco agreed, and the two set off, leaving the deer-- hopefully it would still be there later, though chances are it would be taken by a different creature, this deep in the forest.

“It sounds like Ginny,” Harry mused, once in range. “Come to think of it, weren’t the sixth-years going into the forest today to collect ingredients? She shouldn’t be this far out though…”

“I think I hear Dean, too, now. They seem to be arguing.” Draco slowed. “Maybe we should leave them be.”

“I suppose. Though if she starts crying at all, we’re heading over.”

“Oh? Ron’s brotherly instincts rubbing off on you?” Draco teased.

Harry blushed sheepishly. “No…” 

“Yes…”

“Okay, fine. Maybe a little. Anyway, care to continue where we left off earlier…?”

“Of course.” Draco pulled Harry into a brief kiss. “Though we probably should be heading back to the deer first, before something steals it.”

They got halfway back to the deer before Harry got impatient; it was quiet now, no sign of the other two. “Screw the deer,” Harry growled, pushing Draco against a tree. “I want you now.”

Draco gasped in surprise as he hit the tree, Harry pressing their hips together immediately. Draco cocked his neck, giving Harry access, and Harry drove his fangs in deep, sucking hard enough so it would surely show a bruise for the rest of the day.

They didn’t get much further before a piercing call rang through the woods, sounding like “Dean”. The two vampires gave up what they were doing and dashed towards it. Suddenly, a strange grey fog appeared out of seemingly nowhere, blocking out the sun. Their running slowed to a walk as they travelled towards Ginny’s voice-- she was now muttering things frantically, although the answering voice seemed muffled, as though spoken through a walkie-talkie.

Harry shivered; he had a very, very, very bad feeling about this. They seemed to have come upon some type of graveyard, though it must have been centuries, perhaps even millenia, old; what remained of tombstones were worn and crumbling, names so faded they were impossible to make out. Why it was in the forest was anyone’s guess. Ginny came into view a little ways ahead, kneeling in front of what appeared to be the entrance to some tomb; the slab covering it had been moved. Ginny spun around upon hearing their footsteps, eyes wide and holding what definitely was a walkie-talkie.

“Oh, it you two,” she sighed, trying to appear calm yet her heart was racing.

“Why do you have a walkie-talkie?” Harry asked. “And how is it working here?”

“Huh? This? It’s a portable radio, Fred and George modified it to talk to others; they want to sell it in their shops, so gave it to Dean and I to test. We were doing so while gathering ingredients, but then found this place… he wanted to explore...”

 _“Ginny? You’re still there? I said to leave!”_ Dean’s voice called over the device.

“No!” Ginny responded. “Listen, Harry and Draco are here now, they can help--”

_“No! It’s- it’s horrible, too horrible, you need to leave! All of you!”_

“I’m not leaving without you!”

Harry grabbed the radio. “Dean, what is it? What’s down there?” Silence. “Dean? Still there?”

Dean’s voice was coarse with fear and despair. _“No, I can’t say… there’s no words for it… it’s beyond the ability to fathom… just put back the slab and run, run far away-- it’s too late for me! You must go!”_

“No! Ginny’s right, we won’t leave without you. Hurry back up, and we’ll all leave, together!”

_“No! You don’t understand! It’s too late for me! There’s nothing anyone can do! Leave before-- before--”_

“Dean? Dean, are you there? What’s going on? We’re coming down!”

_“NO! You mustn’t! Please… it’s almost over now… close the tomb… save yourself… Goodbye… Ginny, I love you…”_

“No! Dean!” Ginny screamed. “Please, hold on, we’ll get you out!” No response. She turned to Harry and Draco, who were looking nervously down the steps. “Please, please, you have to go save him… please…” 

Draco looked away, his voice cracking as he spoke. “Ginny, if he's telling us to leave that frantically… and there’s such an awful feeling coming from it…”

“Please! You have to! You’re cosmic beings, aren't you?”

Harry took a deep breath. “I’m going,” he told Draco adamantly, and dashed down the steps into the dark tomb. “Ginny, stay here.”

“Fuck.” Draco dashed after Harry, through what did not seem to be a tomb, rather a series of tunnels, the danger sense increasing the further in they ran. They began calling out, looking for some sign of Dean.

It seemed like eons they were down there, though it was likely only a few dozen minutes. “Dean, where are you?” Harry croaked.

Frantic footsteps behind them. The two vampires spun around, the light of a lumos charm approaching. “Ginny! I said to wait outside!” Harry hissed at her.

“But we need to find Dean! Dean, where are you?!”

A deep fear struck them as fog filled the corridors and a disembodied voice from deep within the tomb’s halls answered, deep, hollow, truly unearthly, echoing and distant yet loud and clear as day. “YOU FOOLS, DEAN IS DEAD!”

“No!” Ginny wailed, starting to run towards the voice. Harry and Draco grabbed her arms. “No! He can’t be! He can’t! Give him back!” She struggled against their firm grip. “Let me go! We need to save him! You can, right? Right? With your cosmic stuff?”

Harry and Draco looked at each other across Ginny, eyes wide with deeper fear than they had ever known; they couldn’t stay, they couldn’t save Dean. This they knew for certain.

Necrotic shadows danced along the walls. “LEAVE NOW, OR PERISH WITH YOUR PRECIOUS DEAN!”

Harry and Draco turned and began to run, a struggling Ginny still yelling. “You can’t! These two are friends of Nyarlathotep, imbued with the cosmic magic of the Old Ones, blessed by Azathoth himself!”

“IF YOU THINK THAT MATTERS ONE BIT, YOU ARE MISTAKEN! YOU TEST MY PATIENCE! I WARN YOU FOR THE LAST TIME: LEAVE NOW OR DIE!”

Ginny still struggled; Harry drew up the power he had used in Michigan, putting her to sleep-- it was much easier with one person rather than ten. He and Draco rushed out of the tomb as fast as they could. They felt the fog closing in on them, making them dizzy, invading their minds. Somehow, they managed to reach the entrance and cover the tomb, but it was all a big blur as their fear overcame them. They continued to run, but soon their legs became shaky and the world began to look darker and darker, though the sun wasn’t setting…

 

*******

 

Harry woke up to a bright light he knew well; the Hospital Wing. He groaned as he tried to sit up; it felt like he’d fallen from a cliff. Perhaps he had, for he couldn’t really remembered why he was here. It was all a blur; they had been hunting, then heard Ginny’s voice, and then… he remembered fear, lots of fear. A tomb? They had gone into a tomb filled with something really, really bad. Why had they gone in there? Harry blinked in confusion. The danger sense had been the worst he’d ever felt, why would he go in… then, there was some voice… Harry let out a gasp. “Dean!”

“Harry! Oh, thank goodness you’re awake!” Madam Pomfrey called, hustling over.

“How did I get here?” Harry asked. “Ugh,” He put his head in his hands. “Why does my head feel like it’s full of nargles?”

“Perhaps you can tell me what happened? You’ve been unconscious nearly a day; Hagrid found you three lying on the edge of the forest.”

Three? Right! “Where’s Draco and Ginny? Are they okay?”

“They are here too. Neither have woken yet, but they’re physically fine. No injuries, other than a bite mark on Draco which I assume you gave him; in other words, no medical reason for you three to have fallen unconscious.”

“Okay, good,” Harry sighed, leaning back against the pile of pillows Madam Pomfrey had placed behind him. “How long have we been unconscious?”

“Two nights.” The healer pursed her lips. “You mentioned Mr. Thomas’s name. He’s been missing for the same amount of time. Would he have happened to be involved with this, too?”

Harry felt like he couldn’t breathe. Well, he didn’t need to breathe anyway, but he seemed frozen, no air going in or out, preventing him from speaking as he remembered the terror. He stared at Madam Pomfrey, eyes wide in horror. His heart began racing, and his body shook. He was vaguely away of a calming draught being given to him, which he took, but it didn’t help at all. A great fog clouded his brain again Madam Strout came over too, and they discussed something, and then another potion was given to him which he absently took, and the world went dark again.

 

*******

 

Harry woke to voices conversing quietly. Glancing at the window, it seemed to be sunset. He pretended to sleep to hear the conversation. It seemed both healers were talking to McGonagall, Snape, and Dumbledore.

“So you’re saying that they both act the same when you bring it up? Abject horror? To the point of panic so severe calming draughts failed and sedation became necessary?” McGonagall asked. “I don’t understand how that could be, given the nature of what the boys are. They didn’t even react in such a manner after the battles. Anxiety, yes, and every other emotion, but not horror.”

“Well, only they can tell us why that is,” Madam Pomfrey said sadly.

“Out of curiosity, how did you even manage to sedate the boys?” Snape asked. “I thought most legal sedatives don’t work on vampires.”

“Draught of Living Death,” Madam Strout answered. “Whereas usually it’s only used to induce medical comas in severe cases, on vampires it works similar to a simple sleeping draught, though isn’t even effective for a full hour… Harry should wake soon.”

“Actually, I believe he already is,” Dumbledore said, heading over to him. “Eavesdropping, are we?”

Harry opened his eyes and looked at the man sheepishly. “Sorry. For what it’s worth, I didn’t hear much, just maybe a minute of it.”

“Well, nothing we need to hide, anyway. Now, Harry, might you be ready to tell us what happened?”

Harry sat up and looked at Dumbledore in confusion. “What happened when?”

“Well, you were found collapsed outside the forest with Miss Weasley and Mister Malfoy. From what we gather, Mister Thomas was with you, last seen with Miss Weasley and missing ever since. Mind telling us what happened and where he might be?”

Harry looked at Dumbledore wide-eyed. “Dean?” he croaked. “Dean… Dean is… he’s…” Harry’s stomach lurched and he turned to the side of the bed, vomiting blood onto the floor. He couldn’t say anymore. The pure terror rose up again, he couldn’t speak, his heart raced, and a potion was again given to him.

 

*******

 

Harry woke again, brain fuzzy. McGonagall, Snape, Dumbledore, and the two healers were still in the room, and noticed. They’d only been sedating him for short periods, when the panic got too bad. Just enough to last ten minutes or so. Same for Draco, apparently, though thus far they hadn’t been awake at the same time. Each time he got a little better, but still couldn’t fully say what happened. Ginny still hadn’t awoken.

Harry jumped up happily when he saw who they were leading over to him, then promptly fell back down as his legs were shaky and he was in a daze. Madam Pomfrey frowned, and ran some diagnostic spells, finally determining that so many sedations in a row with that potion was not very good. Madam Strout agreed. No one had known the toll it would take, as no one had done such on a vampire before-- or if they had, hadn’t made it known.

Harry got comfortable on the pillows again, and Draco slid onto the bed, curling up next to him with his head on Harry’s chest and arms wrapped around him. “I’m glad you’re okay,” he muttered languidly. Seems the multiple sedations had affected him, too.

Snape brought them an antidote to the draught, and they felt much better.

“I’m sorry, but we have to keep asking,” Dumbledore began. “Hopefully that you’re together, it’ll be easier--”

“Wait, perhaps a calming draught beforehand would help,” Madam Pomfrey said, turning to get some.

“No, if it didn’t work after, it won’t work before,” Snape insisted, then turned to the boys. “Do you have anything that might provide a relaxed state, possibly one that dulls negative emotions?”

Harry and Draco made their expressions blank. “No,” they both said at once.

Snape raised an eyebrow. “So you do?”

“Dumbledore made us get rid of them all, remember?” Draco quickly explained.

“And you actually did?”

“Of course!” Harry lied, trying to seem indignant at such a suggestion.

“Hmm. I see.”

“Perhaps legilimency will work?” McGonagall suggested.

“Ah, yes, Minerva, that is a brilliant idea,” Dumbledore agreed. “Severus, would you do the honors?”

Harry volunteered, and Snape entered his mind. After a few minutes, Snape exited with a gasp, losing his balance causing McGonagall to have to hold him up. “What did you see?” she asked.

Snape slowly shook his head from side to side. “I’m… not sure. I don’t even think they’re sure themselves. There’s a fog throughout, literal and figural. Strong emotions of fear. From what I gather, they were… hunting, when they came across Ginny in an old graveyard covered in fog. A tomb was open, and Dean had gone into it. They were using some communication device to speak with each other. When Harry and Draco got there, he frantically was telling her to close the tomb and leave. He said the same to Harry and Draco, told them not to try to save them. The two almost listened, as their danger sense was ringing like bells-- but Ginny begged them, and Harry’s hero complex--”

“I do not have a hero complex!”

“--caused him to oblige, once Dean went quiet. They told Ginny to wait there and went in, but she stupidly followed anyway. The danger sense and fear only increased, and then the corridors filled with a fog. There was… this voice… this loud echoing voice...” Snape stared into space, feeling some of the fear that Harry had felt in the memory. “The voice… it was not human… it said… it said…”

“It said, ‘You fools, Dean is dead,’” Harry said quietly, burying his head in Draco’s shoulder. Draco nodded silently.

“Yes,” Snape whispered.

“Did it say anything else?” Dumbledore asked somberly.

Snape answered. “Ginny began yelling, saying that wasn’t true, and begged Harry and Draco to go in to save him. She didn’t seem to have the same understanding the boys had, namely that it was useless and they had to leave-- she tried to run further in while they held her back. The shadows on the walls began to move, and it warned them to leave unless they wanted to die too. Ginny still tried to argue, trying to squirm away while they ran with her, telling the thing that they were friends with, well, you know. The thing said it did not matter, again saying to leave or die. Harry put Ginny to sleep to stop her struggling, and they managed to get out, close the tomb, and flee the graveyard-- however, the experience left them dazed and lethargic, hence their collapse.”

Madam Pomfrey and McGonagall had their hands over their mouths, and Dumbledore looked grave. “Would this have anything to do with those cosmic beings you associate with? Was it another Old One?”

Harry shook his head. “No. This was different. Completely different. This wasn’t cosmic. It was dark, darkest of dark, like the purest embodiment of fear and evil. I don’t even think gods would dare mess with it. The last thing it said, that it didn’t care what we were… it almost seemed to be mocking us.” Harry shivered. “Please don’t make us talk about it more.”

“You said you made Ginny fall asleep?” Healer Strout asked.

“Huh? Oh, right!” Harry carefully climbed off the bed and over to Ginny’s. He placed a hand on her forehead, and she woke, immediately beginning to panic. 

For all of Ginny’s brave front when facing it-- a true Gryffindor for sure-- the aftermath of it was not pretty. The horrifying memories of it seemed to affect humans much more than the two vampires had been affected, plus Dean had been her boyfriend, so there was grieving there too. Not that Harry and Draco weren’t grieving too-- Dean had been their friend as well-- it was just different for her, being so much closer to him. Calming draughts had no effect. Eventually it was determined she needed to go to St. Mungo’s.

A large group of aurors and professors went in search for the ancient graveyard, retracing their path-- not to go in, rather, to further seal it-- but all they found was the dead deer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize to all of you who liked Dean. But I really wanted to do this story and a friend had to die for it. I felt like Dean or Ron would be most likely to try exploring, and the coin flip chose Dean.
> 
>  
> 
> Next time: An unexpected Dreamlands visitor, a rat, Snape teaches his class Legilimancy-- which goes as well as you'd expect when half the class has had severely traumatic experiences-- and Harry is in a bad place again.


	20. Reunions and Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for explicit self-harm in last section.

“What the hell are you doing here?!” Harry called in surprise. Then he cringed; smooth. He should have just left, not called attention to himself. This was the last person he’d want to interact with, even in the dreamlands.

“Is that the muggle who…?” Draco asked in a whisper, receiving a nod from Harry.

“Me? This is my dream! What are you doing here?!” Dudley demanded.

Harry laughed. “Your dream? Sorry, but this is everyone’s dream. You’ve found the Dreamlands.”

Dudley blinked in confusion. “What? Dreamlands? As in that place Lovecraft wrote about?”

Now it was Harry’s turn to be confused. “How do you know about that?”

“We read some of his stuff in school, part of a unit on horror writing in English class… but, but it can’t be real, can it? There’s no way it can be real!”

Harry raised an eyebrow. “Just like magic can’t be real?”

Dudley looked uncomfortable about that. “Yeah, I guess. Er. About that. Why didn’t you return the past few summers?”

Harry was quite surprised at the ease Dudley accepted the situation, as well as the question. “Why do you care about that?” he bristled.

“Well, no one told me what happened, just that you weren’t returning. I thought maybe you’d died or something.”

“They didn’t tell you? I was removed from their custody. Uncle Vernon strangled me until I nearly passed out.”

“What? Dad would never do that!” Dudley protested, though looked unsure.

“You really think that? You saw how he treated me. How you treated me.” Harry’s voice was more dejected than angered.

“I guess… I would never have gone that far, though,” Dudley mumbled, looking uncomfortable. He seemed much more humble than Harry remembered. “I’m… sorry, I guess. I felt bad when you didn’t return. It was weird, not having you there. And… well, you did save my life, you know. After that, I figured maybe I shouldn’t be so mean to you… but you didn’t return. I really thought you’d died.”

Harry was utterly shocked, had no clue what to say. The truth? Dudley was being truthful. “Well…” Harry sighed. “I tried. But… well, Draco here saved me.” Draco grabbed Harry’s hand in support, not expecting this turn of conversation. Or the entire conversation, quite frankly.

Dudley’s eyes grew wide. “Wait, are you saying you…”

“Yeah.”

“But… but why?” He gasped. “...did I have something to do with it?”

Harry shifted awkwardly, unsure exactly why he was telling all this to Dudley, of all people. But his cousin seemed genuinely concerned about him-- it was even confirmed by his aura. “I don’t know. A little, I suppose. But, there was a lot going on at the time, worse things. Before that summer, I was captured by, well, let’s just say they’re pretty awful people. They murdered a friend of mine in front of me, tortured me, and used my blood to resurrect a really evil wizard; I barely escaped. There were a lot of nightmares and panic attacks due to that. Also, the newspaper kept attacking me, and many students believed it, saying I was a psychotic liar because I was telling the truth about his return but they didn’t want to believe it-- he was lying low at the time, gathering support, so there was no proof except the word of me and some others. Oh, and there was a teacher-- thankfully she only lasted the year-- who was giving me detentions for every little thing, since she’s a psychotic bitch. It was just a lot of stress for a 15-year-old.”

Dudley looked at Harry in shock. “All that was going on? If I knew… if I knew, I wouldn’t have been so tough on you. Again, I’m sorry.” Was that a tear?

“It’s… it’s okay. I got through it.”

Dudley shifted uncomfortably, then spoke at a volume a human would strain himself to hear. “I… I understand, a litte. Dad… well, he still spoils me a lot, but he’s been drinking more, and with you not there, he takes his anger out on me, or tries to at least. It’s not nearly as bad as what you were put through, but I think I can understand it a little now.”

Harry stared at him in shock, unsure of what to say.

Draco sighed. “Welcome to the group of abused kids, then. My father was similar. Spoiled me rotten as a kid, then when I got older, things changed. He followed the Dark Lord-- that’s the dark wizard mentioned earlier-- and when I refused to… well, it wasn’t pretty. I ran away, and eventually was disowned when he realized I couldn’t be convinced to return.”

Dudley looked at Draco curiously. “Is your whole family vampires?”

Draco became very surprised at that. “No, just me-- I was changed as a punishment, forced to by the Dark Lord, which is when I ran away… but how do you know I’m one?”

“Well, you have fangs. And so does Harry-- that must be how you saved his life, right?” Dudley seemed more perceptive than Harry gave him credit for. Or at least, now he was.

“Yeah, it was,” Harry replied. “But, don’t be afraid! There’s a potion that can replace the need for human blood,” he quickly explained.

“I wasn’t afraid; I know you won’t attack me. I think it’s neat.”

Harry looked at Dudley in utter disbelief. “You think… it’s neat.”

“Yeah. Vampires are cool.”

“Okay. I’m honestly extremely confused right now. How are you accepting this supernatural stuff so easily?”

“Well, magic is real, so why can’t these things be too? You’ve never lied to me before. Well, not big lies.”

Harry shook his head slowly. “I’m honestly amazed… I can’t imagine what Aunt and Uncle would think of this.”

Dudley laughed. “Oh, I have a pretty good idea. I’m obviously not going to mention any of this to them.”

Harry smiled. “Obviously. So, do you want a tour of the Dreamlands? I’ve been here before.”

Dudley returned the smile. “Sure. I’d like that.”

 

*******

 

“That really just happened, right?” Harry asked Draco upon returning. “We really just escorted Dudley through the Dreamlands, and he actually was civil and friendly?”

“Seems like it. I wonder… well, I wonder how much of his bullying as a kid was merely parroting his father? Like how I wasn’t such a great child, either, due to mine.”

“Yeah… it’s really amazing how much influence parents hold over their children.”

“Meow.”

“Hey, Selardi,” Harry greeted. “Oh? What do you have there?”

“Looks like a rat,” Draco commented. “Fancy eating it again, Harry?” he teased.

Harry blushed. “N-no. That was the cat’s mind, you know that! Although I wouldn’t mind the blood…”

At those words, Selardi set the rat in front of Harry, who picked it up.

Harry bit into the rat, but the blood tasted a little odd, not quite fully rat; suddenly, he stopped, a wave of disgust coming over him. His eyes widened as he stared at the dead rat. “On second thought, perhaps I’ll pass-- Draco, does this rat look familiar to you, too?”

Draco examined the rat, and then his eyes widened too. “Holy shit.”

The two stared at the rat for a while.

“Dumbledore?” Harry suggested.

“Dumbledore,” Harry agreed.

With that, the two made their way to Dumbledore’s office, holding the very chubby rat with a missing toe at an arm’s length. Knocking on the door, they heard footsteps descending the hidden stairs in the back of the office which led to Dumbledore’s sleeping quarters. The footsteps made their way across the office, and the door opened.

“And why, might I ask, are you two visiting me at five a.m.?” A very sleepy Dumbledore, in an old-fashioned nightshirt and sleeping cap, asked.

“Selardi caught a rat tonight,” Draco explained. “A rat that just so happens to be missing a certain finger.”

Dumbledore’s gaze shifted to the dead rat Harry held out. “I see. Put it down on the floor.”

Harry obliged, and Dumbledore shot a spell at the rat, causing it to change into the form of a very dead Peter Pettigrew.

“Ah, the perils of having a prey animal as an animagus form,” Dumbledore sighed, with a smile and a twinkle in his eye.

 

*******

 

“Wormtail is dead,” Harry announced to Sirius and Lupin, via the mirror. He and Draco had waited for a more appropriate hour to contact them.

Sirius’s eyes widened. “What?”

“How did it happen?” Lupin asked, just as surprised.

“He had a run-in with my cat,” Draco answered.

Sirius laughed at that. “Seriously? Aww, man. What a way to go! Do you think she knew, like Crookshanks did?”

“Oh, definitely. Selardi is part-kneazle, too, after all.” Draco laughed a bit too. “And an avatar of death,” he added in a volume only Harry heard.

“Another Death-Eater down,” Harry grinned.

“And the traitor got what he deserved,” Lupin vehemently asserted, the virulence surprising Harry; Lupin was usually the calmer one.

“Agreed,” Sirius said, with equivalent vehemency.

“Ah, I have a bit of an odd question, though,” Harry began with trepidation. “Er. Do you think having the blood of someone in their animagus form counts as having human blood? I didn’t realize it was him until I’d already bitten it.”

Sirius raised an eyebrow. “You wanted to drink blood from a rat your cat caught?”

Harry blushed. “Well, I didn’t want it to go to waste! Besides, I’ve had plenty from animals a certain dog caught, which isn’t any different than a cat catching it,” he pointed out. 

Sirius chuckled. “True, very true.”

“I don’t think it counts as human blood, Harry,” Lupin responded to the initial question. “You didn’t know, fully thinking it was just a rat. Besides, it didn’t taste human, right?”

“That’s true. But it did taste somewhat rancid…” That was a lie. There had definitely been a hint of human blood mixed with the rat’s; that’s why Harry had done a double-take. And it had increased his craving for such, as well; or was that just his imagination? Harry made an effort to let the thought drop before the anxiety set in; it was definitely his imagination. He had to stop worrying so much over that.

“Well, he was a rather rancid person,” Sirius pointed out.

Harry laughed. “True, very true.”

 

*******

 

“Legilimens!”

“Sorry, Blaise; nothing.” Harry shrugged. 

“Sure you have the shields down?”

“Yes, fully. Do the spell right, and you’ll be in.” They were in the middle of a lesson for Snape’s class, Mind Magic. They were trying legilimency. Harry had Blaise as a partner, and Draco had some sixth-year Hufflepuff. Harry didn’t even have to worry anymore about the risk of Voldemort intruding when his occlumency shields were lowered; with the removal of the horcrux, the connection had vanished. Still, Harry had been pleased that he actually had to concentrate on keeping the shields lowered for this-- they seemed to naturally rise now.

“Oh, like you’d have better luck.”

“Fine.” Harry looked Blaise dead in the eye. “Legilimens.” Harry felt himself fly through Blaise’s mind, catching glimpses of memories. First time riding a broom. Learning that his dad was dead. Getting on the Hogwarts express. Learning that a step-dad was dead. Meeting another step-dad. The Ministry. Another step-dad dead. Walking in on Harry and Draco. Killing a step-dad himself. Watching the Tsathoggua slice a Death-Eater’s head off-- Harry quickly retreated from Blaise’s mind; they were both on their knees, shaking.

“Bad memories?” Snape asked, standing over them.

“Th-the battle last year,” Blaise muttered.

Snape wordlessly handing the two calming draughts; he’d been prepared for this type of thing. Such was a necessity when teaching anything involving memories, for everyone had bad ones that could surface-- this group more so than others. Harry and Draco knew enough occlumency to only let their partners see the ones they wanted, but it wasn’t the same for the others. That’s why he had made sure Blaise, who knew what Harry and Draco were, partnered with one of them rather than one of the half-dozen other students there. 

“How many step-dads have you had?” Harry asked curiously, once they’d calmed down.

“What?” Blaise responded. “Er. Seven, I think. Maybe eight? Hard to keep track. My dad was her third husband.” He said this as casually as though discussing homework, his aura showing perfect calmness over it. He sneered at Harry’s expression. “What? My mother is known as the blackest of black widows. Marries, husband coincidentally dies under perfectly natural circumstances, she gets the inheritance. Simple.”

“Then why do you make your own money, too, if she has so much?”

Blaise blinked in surprise at the question. “Well, I’m not going to mooch off my mother’s money forever. She wants me to be able to fend for myself after school. So, I got an early start on it.”

“And she’s okay with that?”

Blaise rolled his eyes. “Considering how she’s made all her money, do you honestly think this would bother her?”

“Er, right. So, let’s get back to practicing. Your turn.”

“Okay, fine.” Blaise’s confidence had increased, Harry could tell. Chances are, he’d be successful this time… “Legilimens!” Suddenly, they were in Harry’s memories. Harry focused on directing Blaise to only good memories. Hagrid giving him Hedwig. Getting his first broom. The Sorting Hat. Choosing Selardi’s name. For a bit of fun, the same memory Blaise had of walking in on him and Draco. Going to the beach. Draco and him traversing the Garden of Yin. Riding zebras. Draco, Selardi, and him exploring the castle as cats. Draco finding him bloody in the forest-- Harry quickly shoved Blaise out of his mind.

“Y-you weren’t supposed to see that last one,” Harry gasped, looking at Blaise wide-eyed, receiving an identical stare as his friend paled. Harry closed his eyes, trying to stop thinking about the memory, counting silently, to no avail.

“I think we need another calming potion,” Blaise called to Snape.

“N-no, I’m fine,” Harry croaked.

Snape sighed. “No, you’re not. Here, drink. Though be careful; too many of these in a row can be problematic.”

“Don’t worry, I know,” Harry downed the potion, then smiled at the professor. “Blaise got it, finally.”

“Good. Though I would think you could direct the memories enough to avoid ones that trigger the need for a calming draught? Or has my instruction the past two years been for naught?”

Harry cringed. “Sorry, sir. I had been directing them; just chose the wrong one accidentally, there’s a few memories that are in the forest, some good and some… not so good.”

Dawning emerged within Snape’s aura, though he kept a blank face. “I see. Well, be more careful then, next time.” Snape strolled off to help another pair.

“So… the hat almost made you Slytherin, huh?” Blaise asked, diverting the subject.

“What? Ah, yes.”

“Why didn’t you accept that?”

Harry blushed. “Er. Ron had just spent practically half the train ride talking about how Slytherins were evil; I was eleven, and he was my first friend, so I believed him. Seems really stupid in retrospect.”

Blaise chuckled. “That it does. But, as you say, you were eleven. Besides, if you’d been sorted elsewhere, I’d never have befriended most the friends I have now!”

Harry smiled. “Perhaps not, though not necessarily. You never really can know such a thing, can you?”

 

*******

 

Harry sat on his bed in Gryffindor tower. He held a shard of glass in his hand, from a beaker that had broken in Potions class earlier; it had slashed his hand when he accidentally squeezed too hard while trying to restrain himself after someone cut their hand. It had been such a small cut, yet the smell tempted him immensely. He slowly turned the shard over and over, contemplating. He had forgotten how nice it felt until it sliced him. It had been a fairly deep cut, enough to cause a nice sting, though still healed rapidly. He could do it again. It would heal; no one would know. It was cathartic. He knew he shouldn’t do it, knew that most disapproved, but it wasn’t like it could harm him, right? Just a few little cuts; his vampire healing would take care of them, and no one would know. After that legilimency class, he sure needed something to take his mind off things. It was this, or getting drunk and/or high, but he still had classes later that day, so the latter was ill-advised.

Harry lifted the shard and pressed it to his skin, digging it deep-- a mere scratch wouldn’t hurt a vampire at all, after all, and he wanted to feel it, needed to see blood. He sat there watching as a little bit bubbled out before the wound slowly sewed itself shut, then licked off the blood. No mark; no one ever had to know. He did this a few more times.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” a voice called, pulling Harry out of his stupor. Someone grabbed his wrist, twisting the shard away. Harry turned to find a very angry Draco next to him.

“I… I, er… Aren’t you s-supposed to be in c-class?” Harry stuttered. Normally Draco had Muggle Studies now while Harry had a free period.

“I was, until the bracelet tingled a little. Then I asked to be excused, and went looking for you.” He glared at Harry.

Harry swore. That stupid bracelet! Yes, it had saved his life may times, but did it have to react to everything? Wait a second. “Since when does does the bracelet react to just a few cuts?”

“A few cuts? You call this a few cuts?” Draco turned Harry’s arm to face him, and shook it in his face. “Some of these are going to take hours to fully heal!”

Harry cringed. He hadn’t realized he’d gone so far with it. “I-I only wanted to do a few small ones; I don’t remember doing so many, nor that deep.”

Draco’s eyes softened, and a bit of confusion showed upon his face, despite some anger remaining there. “What do you mean, you don’t remember?”

Harry looked away. “I remember doing four of them. Small ones, which healed in under a minute. Then, you were here.”

Draco met Harry’s eyes; Harry didn’t need to look at his boyfriend’s aura to see the deep worry there. Draco took out his wand and began muttering a few basic healing spells, though they didn’t do much. He swore. “Maybe we should have taken healing, after all.”

“Draco, it’s fine. They’ll heal on their own.”

“Yes, I am aware. But still…” Draco licked the bits of blood off, conjuring a bandage to wrap around Harry’s arm before any more blood could bubble up. He then pulled Harry into a tight hug. “Why? Why would you do this?”

“I… I don’t really know why, but it feels good,” Harry admitted. “I accidentally cut my hand in potions earlier, and it brought back memories of how good the sting feels, how it can distract from the mental pain so well. Legilimency class was brutal; I needed three calming draughts, Draco. Three! Plus, Ginny’s still in the hospital, and De-- well, you know. I wanted to drink or get high, but I still have classes later today. This seemed a better option. But I really didn’t mean it to go this far, honestly… I just wanted to do a few small ones.”

Draco sighed. “I guess that makes sense; technically, doing a couple small ones would be better than drinking before class… not that I approve at all! But this is definitely not a couple. Please, please don’t do this again. It’s too reminiscent of that time I found you in the woods fifth year; which you also didn’t plan to take so far...”

“I know; I revisited that memory in legilimency class. I’m sorry. I can try… but again, I didn’t intend to!”

“Then don’t do any at all, if you can’t control how much you do,” Draco enjoined. “Promise me.”

“...I can’t promise that,” Harry confessed. “But I can promise that I’ll try my best not to.”

Draco sighed. “I guess that’s as good as I can ask for. Now, I need to get back to class; let’s go find someone to monitor you.” Draco helped Harry off the bed.

“Draco, I’m fine. I’m not going to do anymore today.”

“Today? No, you’re not going to do anymore ever.”

“Right. Exactly. So I don’t need a babysitter.”

“I beg to disagree. Let’s go. Get your robes on.”

“Do I need to? This is more comfortable.” 

Draco gave Harry an exasperated look. “I don’t know how anyone could think a t-shirt and tight jeans are more comfortable than robes, regardless of how nice your ass looks in them. But if you want detention for wearing muggle clothing in class, I won’t stop you.”

“Ugh, fine.” Harry stripped off his shirt and jeans and tossed on his robes. “Happy?”

“Yes. Now, let’s go. I’m going to be in huge trouble if I don’t get back to class.”

Draco grabbed Harry’s hand and bag and hurried down to the common room, conveniently finding Neville and Ron settling down to play chess.

“Oh, hey, Draco, Harry!” Ron called.

“Shouldn’t you been in class?” Neville asked Draco.

“Yes, and I’m heading back there now. Here, don’t let him out of your sight.” He gave Harry a little push towards the two, tossed his bag onto the couch, then darted off to class.

Neville looked at Harry curiously. “What did he mean by that?”

Harry blushed and turned away. “N-nothing. Don’t worry about it. I’ll see you later.”

As Harry turned to walk away, Ron grabbed his arm-- the one with the cuts. Harry tried to hide his wince, but Ron noticed regardless. He quickly slid Harry’s sleeve up, noted the bandages, and pulled Harry onto the couch he was sitting at. “If you try to leave, I’ll chain you to the couch,” he told Harry in a business-like manner.

“Okay, okay, I get it,” Harry mumbled, taking out a book from his bag.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Easter break! A visit to St. Mungo's, an Order meeting, surprising news about Sirius, and shopping in Diagon Alley.


	21. A Hospital Visit, a Meeting, and Freedom

“Again, I’m really sorry about--”

“Oh, shush. It isn’t your fault, Harry,” Mrs. Weasley gently chided.

“But I should have made sure she stayed outside! Or even just ignored her pleas to look for him in the first place, and fled with her, as he tried to warn us to do! She would have been angry, yes, but angry is better than this…”

“Harry, it was her decision to follow you in after telling her not to. My daughter can be much too headstrong for her own good… unfortunately, she exhibits every single Gryffindor trait, good and bad.”

Harry and Draco were with some of the Weasleys-- namely, Mr. and Mrs., Fred, George, and Ron-- visiting Ginny, who was currently residing in the Janus-Thickey Ward at St. Mungo’s. Her hysteria over the supernatural encounter had subsided, but then she’d slipped into some sort of highly dissociated state due to the trauma, not dissimilar to Frank and Alice Longbottom’s. The basic functions were there, but she refused to speak, and her eyes were constantly distant, as though her mind were someplace else entirely. Sometimes, she’d have brief moments of lucidity, but those led her to start screaming hysterically as memories returned. At the moment, she was calm, though her aura was disturbingly blank. No one was sure how much she understood when they spoke to her.

She was, however, wearing the delicate silver ring Dean’s parents had given her when they had visited the previous day-- they had found it when removing his things from Hogwarts. They knew it was for her as Dean’s father had assisted him in choosing it. When they told her this, they thought they saw some recognition, and she’d clutched it in her hand, though hadn’t put it on yet when they left.

“Hey, Harry, think you could try using some legilimency, see if you can find her?” Fred asked.

“The Healers already tried that, though,” Mr. Weasley pointed out.

“Yes, but perhaps someone who’s closer to her could find something more,” George explained.

Harry bit his lip. “I suppose it’s worth a shot…”

Mrs. Weasley nodded. “Okay. Let’s find the head healer, see what she thinks.”

The head healer agreed that it seemed like a fine plan, especially as they had no other ideas at the moment. So Harry looked into Ginny’s eyes and whispered the spell… after a minute, Harry gasped, staggering backwards, face pale.

“Whoa there, mate.” Ron’s hand on his shoulder steadied Harry as he stumbled backwards. “What happened?”

Harry just shook his head and looked away.

“Harry?” Draco wrapped an arm around his boyfriend’s shoulders.

Harry was breathing hard and eyes wide. “It’s a defense mechanism, it seems, to block out everything… the fear, the memories of that thing…” Harry began shaking. “They’re just under the surface there…” he closed his eyes.

“Harry! Harry, stay with me, open your eyes,” Draco commanded, turning to place his hands on Harry’s shoulders, looking directly at him. Harry did, and Draco could see the panic in them. “You’re okay. You’re not there anymore. Look, I’m right here in front of you, we’re in a bright, large room. Deep breaths now, okay? That’s right…”

“Thank you,” Harry whispered, when the panic subsided enough for him to be cognizant. The healer rushed over with a calming draught, which Harry downed gratefully.

“S-sorry,” Fred stammered. “Perhaps I shouldn’t have suggested that…”

“Yeah, we forgot you were there, too,” George apologized.

Mrs. Weasley merely came over to give Harry a huge hug.

“That’s what we meant by a state of dissociation,” the healer explained. “It’s a mental wall, almost like an extended state of shock. It can happen when something severely traumatizing occurs-- the mind attempts to block out the threat, but overdoes it, shutting out everything. It’s the same thing that occurred with the Longbottoms.”

“Will she ever recover?” Harry asked tepidly. Neville’s parents hadn’t.

“There’s no way to tell; it’s all up to her, now. We’ll try to reach her, and I’m sure friends visiting ought to help, but all we can really do is provide her with a stable environment and hope she manages to work through it. Some people can recover after a few hours, while others…” she left it unsaid, but they all understood the implication.

 

*******

 

Harry fiddled with his earring as he absentmindedly sat through the Order meeting, only half paying attention. Draco elbowed him, multiple times, reminding him to focus, but it was so boring. Reports were all repetitions of the last few meetings: Death-Eater activities were slim, focusing on recruiting; Voldemort was still looking for power elsewhere; list of people Harry didn’t know personally who were missing, injured, or dead; muggle attacks; etc. The only new thing thus far was Pettigrew’s demise, which people got a laugh out of, seeing as his do-in was via a pet cat. Harry phased in and out, daydreaming of the cosmos mostly, flitting on the edge, or so it seemed. Eventually though, something did pique his interest-- or, rather, Draco’s interest, who pulled Harry out of his stupor to listen.

“Voldemort has seemed to have vanished,” Dumbledore announced. “He said he was going away for a while, but all traces of him have disappeared. We suspect he has attempted to go to another world in order to obtain power…. ah, quiet down now,” Dumbledore implored, as chatter broke out at the news. “Yes, I said another world. One commonly referred to as the Dreamlands, specifically. I am not certain he will find anything there, at least not that he can bring back with him, but nevertheless, I plan to send some people to scout there.”

“Who, specifically?” asked Kingsley. “If you haven’t chosen yet, I would like to volunteer.” Many people also began voicing this desire.

“Now, now.” Dumbledore’s words quieted everyone. “There are specific requirements dictating who are able to enter the place safely. I have already decided upon who will go: Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy, and Luna Lovegood.” Chatter broke out again at that, surprised and confused chatter at the choice.

Harry nodded at this; it was as he suspected. After all, it was very dangerous for humans to try to go intentionally: asleep, they needed to be lucid enough while dreaming to purposely find an entrance and then be sure to remain asleep long enough, which would require potions that were illegal and dangerous; and awake they’d need to find a gate, which was even more dangerous, or use forbidden rituals. Harry of course could simply apparate there-- with a human, even, but Dumbledore didn’t know that, nor that Draco also had managed to apparate there on his own and with Luna, as his powers were growing-- Harry made sure of that, insisting Draco drink plenty of his blood to absorb the magic. Dumbledore probably expected Luna to go via the White Ship in dreams, as usual, while Harry apparated Draco… speaking of the White Ship, they had been able to get it to take Dumbledore; perhaps it would be amicable to taking some of their friends, too. When they’d brought Blaise, they’d bought passage on a normal ship to go between Dylath-Leen and Baharna, but the White Ship was both faster and private.

Draco poked Harry on the side, causing him to jump. “Hey, are you paying attention?”

“Er. Yeah. We have to investigate the Dreamlands. [He’s going to expect our usual method.]” Harry switched to the dream-tongue.

Draco frowned. “[True. I guess we’ll have to do that then. We can’t very well let him know I have cosmic magic too now, albeit not as strong, due to drinking copious amounts of your blood; imagine his outrage?]”

“[Oooh, yeah, that wouldn’t be good,]” Luna pitched in. She’d been staring into space most the meeting too, but it seemed she’d actually been paying attention. “[Although I really would prefer to be there physically; it’s so different than using dreams! You feel so much more, it seems so much more real… plus the memories are never fuzzy.]”

“[But you’ve been going there extremely frequently, so they’re not fuzzy for you at all anymore, are they? You recall everything, right?]” Draco asked.

“[Oh, I never forgot the dream-trips there, not even the first few. I think that’s because my great-grandmother is one of the Great Ones that rules there. Although the memories still feel a bit detached, like dreams are wont to be, unless I’m physically there.]”

“[We’ll take you physically then,]” Harry decided. “[Tell Dumbledore you want to sleep in private, and go to the lounge, which he cannot get into.]”

“[Does he even know about the lounge?]” Draco wondered.

Harry thought for a moment. “[He has to know. There’s no way he wouldn’t; it’s not like we keep its existence a deep secret.]”

Suddenly, Fawkes flew in, holding a letter. Dumbledore grabbed it, reading it over quickly, as everyone murmurmed to each other, speculating.

“Settle down, settle down,” Dumbledore called. He had a bright smile on his face. “We have been keeping it secret, so as not to get anyone’s hopes up, but in light of the recent capture of Peter Pettigrew, the Wizengamot has been reviewing Sirius Black’s case. This here is the finalized decision, notarized by the Minister himself: Sirius, you are a free man!”

Everyone turned to look at Sirius, who had a look of utter disbelief on his face. “I’m really… free?” He asked quietly, then seeing Dumbledore’s nod and smile, leapt up in joy, yelling, “I’m free!!” Harry had never seen that many yellow twinkles circle a person before; Sirius’s aura radiated a joy stronger than he’d ever known possible, and his smile was the largest Harry’d ever seen-- well, on a human.

The whole room then began to cheer in delight. Harry darted over to Sirius and nearly knocked him to the ground.

“Harry, you're hugging a little too tight, there,” Sirius croaked, though his face was amused.

“Ah, sorry.” Harry let go a little. He forgot his beyond-human strength sometimes. “I’m just so happy you’re finally free!”

“Me too... It seems rather surreal though, honestly. Like a dream.”

Harry smiled. “Well, I can assure you that this is one-hundred percent not a dream.”

 

*******

 

“Diagon Alley! I almost was starting to think I’d never see this place again!” Sirius proclaimed. He had insisted upon going immediately after the Order meeting. “I’ll finally get to see wizard shops again!”

Sirius had of course been joined by Lupin, Draco, and Harry. Luna had also tagged along without asking, but she did that sort of thing, and it was fine. For security sake, Harry was in female form and Draco had dyed his hair blue again as well as made his contacts light brown. No one would be the wiser as to who they were, although there was still plenty of attention on them, as the vampires were quite hot, especially given how Luna had dressed Harry.

They cheerily explored all the shops they went past. 

“Whoa, hold up there, boys-- er, girl and boy,” Sirius called. “That isn’t a street you want to go down.”

Harry looked at him confused. “What do you mean?”

“That way leads to Knockturn Alley. It’s an extremely shady place.”

“Oh, we know. It’s also where Cleo’s is,” Harry informed the man. 

“Cleo’s? That candy shop you like?” Now Sirius was the confused one. “Why would it be down there?”

Lupin smiled with a knowing sadness. “It’s where all the creature-related shops are.”

Dawning showed upon Sirius’s face. “Right… I suppose that makes sense…” He sighed. “Not sure how that’ll look for my image, heading into this alley immediately upon being freed, but I suppose there’s no choice, huh?” Sirius smiled teasingly. “I’m not going to be the one to deprive you of candy, after all!”

The quintet made their way through the alley and to Cleo’s Creature Candy Creations.

“Harry! Draco!” The receptionist-- Kate-- greeted. “How are you doing?”

“How did you know it was us?” Harry asked.

“Your scent, silly. You look super hot like that, by the way. Both of you. So, who're the werewolf and dog?”

Lupin and Sirius both balked in surprise at that, not expecting the way the cat-creature caught that so quickly.

“This is Sirius, my godfather,” Harry introduced. “The dog part is just his animagus form; he’s stayed in it long enough for it to have seeped a bit into his human form a little, hence the scent.” 

Sirius cringed at that, but didn’t complain. “Nice to meet you.”

“And this is Remus,” Harry continued, finally remembering to use the wolf’s first name, as he’d been asked to do numerous times. “former Hogwarts professor and Sirius’s best friend. As well as our friend, of course!”

Kate’s eyes grew wide. “I remember you! You taught Defense! I wasn’t in your class, as I didn’t do a NEWT in that, but I heard you were amazing. One of the better Defense teachers. It was so sad that you were forced to leave.”

Lupin looked just as surprised, as well as blushed at the compliment. “Ah, thank you. You were a student? Dumbledore never mentioned--”

“Oh, he didn’t know. Nekomata can shapeshift to a human form; we have a different type of magic that drives that, which wizard magic can’t detect. Usually we don’t go to wizard school because of that-- but my mom was a witch, so I have human magic too! That’s also why I look more human, but for the tails and ears. Full-blooded ones have fur all over.”

“Wow; that’s amazing. Makes you wonder how many more…”

As Remus and Kate immersed themselves in a conversation, the rest of them went in search of candy. Harry, of course, filled a bag with blood lollies, blood-cream chocolates, and bloody beans, which she’d be sharing with Draco. Luna was over by the assortment of tree-sap-related candies. Harry drifted over to Sirius, whom she was surprised to find examining some bones.

“You’re right, Harry; the animagus form must have really seeped into my human form,” Sirius mused. “These are actually looking quite tempting.”

Harry laughed. “Want some for when you’re in dog form?”

“I’ll get them if you get cat treats for your animagus form!”

“Done. Selardi might like some, too, actually.”

Thus, they ended up leaving with, in addition to their usual purchases and bones, a large batch of catnip cookies-- apparently Cleo had just baked a bunch, and when she brought them down and saw their interest insisted they take a full dozen, on the house-- as well as some fishy frogs (as in, fish-flavored) that hopped around a little, clearly meant to mimic chocolate frogs. As they left, Luna taste-tested a cookie, and announced it was delightful. After all, catnip was merely a type of mint-- humans often used it in things like teas. She then nicked the blood lolli Harry was about to eat, sticking it in her mouth before the vampire could object. From her expression and aura, she found it delicious.

“Luna, you can be very disconcerting at times, you know that?” Harry sighed, unwrapping another lolli.

“People tell me that, yes.” Luna then began humming around the lolli and staring into space. “This is really good. I want to try the chocolate next,” she muttered, although it wasn’t clear if she were still talking to someone there.

Meanwhile, Draco had opened the bag of Bloody Beans-- the equivalent of Bertie Bott’s Every-flavor Beans for vampires, with each being a different animal’s blood. “Ooh! Rabbit! My favorite!”

Sirius, lost in thought, subconsciously gnawed on a small bone, completely unaware he was in human form whilst doing so.

Lupin shook his head slowly. “Why do I currently feel like I’m the sanest one here, despite being a werewolf?”

“Do you want to try a lolli?” Luna asked.

Lupin sighed. “No, Luna, I’m not a fan of blood.”

“I have sap-flavored ones, too! Maple, pine, birch, and sycamore.”

“Fine; maple, I suppose.”

“Hey, Luna,” Harry asked. “Birch sap what they use to make birchbeer, right? Maybe I’ll try one of those after my blood one.”

“What is birchbeer?”

“Oh. Must be a muggle thing, I suppose. It’s a drink similar to rootbeer.”

“What’s rootbeer?” Draco asked.

Harry sighed. “Sirius, please tell me that at least you know what rootbeer is.”

“Well, I know what it is, though haven’t had it…”

“Seriously? Then next time we go to a muggle food place, we’re getting some!”

“Ooh, yes please!” Luna chimed. “I love rootbeer!”

Soon, the group came upon a shop Sirius had especially been wanting to see: Weasleys’ Wizarding Wheezes. The twins didn’t yet know he was free; they had had to man the store rather than go to the meeting.

“Sirius?!” Fred called, stunned, rushing up to the quintet when they entered the shop. “You’re out in human form?” he whispered. “How? Why?”

Sirius grinned. “They caught Pettigrew, so the Wizengamot reviewed my case, and decided to exonerate all charges!”

Fred drew in a breath. “That’s great. GEORGE, GET OUT HERE!” he called, turning towards the back, causing the customers within the shop to jump in surprise.

“What’s going on?!” George asked, rushing over. “Did Goldie get too enthusiastic again-- Oh! Sirius! Er. What are you doing here in human form?”

Sirius again explained.

“Blimey, that’s brilliant! Oy, what do you say, Fred? Free shopping spree in celebration?”

“Well, George, I think that would be perfect!”

Sirius laughed. “I appreciate the sentiment, but that’s not necessary, boys.” 

“No no, we insist.” Fred laced his arm around Harry’s waist. “After all, this cutie here gave us our initial investment. Least we can do is give her godfather his choice of goods… Hmm, jealous there, Draco?” he teased, as Draco had let out a soft growl when Fred grabbed Harry. Draco pulled Harry away.

Sirius laughed. “Really, you don’t need to. I have piles of money that’s been sitting in Gringotts for sixteen years accruing interest; I need to spend it on something!”

“Why not your own place?” George suggested. “You hate being at your family home, right?”

Sirius shook his head. “Actually, it’s grown on me, after being there a few years. We’ve fixed it up a lot; the other day, we actually managed to get my mother’s portrait off the wall, replacing it with a large muggle painting! It’s been slow, but the more we change, the more it feels like a place I actually want to be. In a few years, it’ll be completely unrecognizable!”

“You got the portrait down?” Fred asked with curiosity. “How?”

“Well, it was Hermione’s idea, actually-- we didn’t remove the portrait, per say, rather removed and replaced the part of wall it was attached to. We’re going to knock the wall with the tapestry out completely, to combine it with the room next to it and make a game room!”

“A game room?” asked Harry. This was the first she’d heard of such.

Remus chuckled. “Sirius discovered a muggle arcade the other day. He really likes this game called Pac-Man.”

“Pinball, too!” Sirius added. “And we’ll have a pool table, of course-- that’s another muggle game, for two to four people depending on variation, I used to go play when I was your age-- and a big table for card games and whatnot of course, and one of those tables with a built-in chess board. Oh, and darts! A big dart board!”

Harry laughed. “Sounds amazing. Is it just going to be a big table, or is it going to be one of those official poker ones, with the felt and little ridges on the end?”

“Well, it’ll be an official table, of course. We’re not going to skirt on any of it!”

“I can’t wait to see it,” Draco said with unbridled excitement. “We just learned about such games in muggle-studies. Pool sounds fun, albeit quite complicated. Never heard of Pac-Man though.”

“It’s fun,” Harry told him. “A lot of muggle pizza places have the machines to play. You put a quarter in-- that’s a muggle coin-- and then you can play for a bit. I’ve only done it a few times though, when Mrs. Figg took me the times I was left with her.”

“But where we we get muggle coins for it?”

Sirius laughed. “It’ll be modified to not need such, of course.”

“Wait a minute,” Harry said. “You need electricity to run arcade games.”

“Or magical batteries, like I had installed in your walkman.”

“No, they’re not wired the same,” Draco informed him. “The Walkman is a simple mechanical system, and just needs the power to move the tape; the games are much more complex, and need it to do much more. A magical battery won’t suffice.”

Sirius’s face fell. “So you’re saying Pac-Man is out?”

“Well… not necessarily,” George interjected. “It’s an old muggle house right?”

“Right…”

“So it should have wires already,” Fred continued. “You could try to activate the electricity in the house.”

“But how do you do that? Doesn’t it involve paying some muggle company to use it? The house is hidden from muggles.”

“We can do it,” Luna piped up. “We’ve been learning electric magic in Natural Magic class. We can make it reroute to the house.”

“Can you really do that?” Lupin asked. “I thought magic and electricity are incompatible?”

“Not necessarily. They can be made to work together, but it is complex to do,” Draco informed. “But it’s only at places seeped in magic where they’d need to be forced to like that, anyway, like Hogwarts and the Ministry. Mr. Weasley has lots of electricity-using items. They only get spastic when Mrs. Weasley has a lot of cleaning spells going at once.”

“Yes, but you’re talking about literally controlling electricity with magic. Magic electricity.”

Harry clapped her hands together, and slowly separated them, with electricity crackling between them. She suddenly pulled her hands away, and the electricity snapped in upon itself, forming a ball that floated in front of them. She grinned at Lupin, whose mouth was wide open in amazement.

“Well, then!” Sirius said cheerfully. “That tears it! Let’s start this project right away-- you three have time, right? After all, it’s only Saturday, and your Easter vacation is this week.”

“Oh! Right!” Harry’s eyes lit up. “I forgot!” She and Draco had even been permitted to stay at Grimmauld Place the entire time. Not that they needed permission, being of age, but she’d asked Mrs. Weasley as a courtesy anyway.

Draco rolled his eyes at his boyfriend-currently-girlfriend, smiling. “Only you could forget something as anticipated as a school break.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Grimmauld Place gets renovated, and a Dreamquest begins!


	22. Renovations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A shorter one, but I'll post another tonight to make up for it!
> 
> I wrote this before writing the chapter with the tomb-- thus it initially had Ginny in it, whom I had to remove. If you find she accidentally appears anywhere in here, please let me know! Thanks. :)

“Chocolate?” Luna offered, holding out a box. Ron, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and Hermione had just flooed over for a visit, upon Sirius’s insistence-- he wanted to show off their accomplishment. Fred and George had stopped by earlier that day, but couldn’t stay long as they had a product-testing group to attend to-- hopefully they wouldn’t land anyone in St. Mungo’s this time.

Harry dashed over. “Don’t eat those!” He called, pulling the box away right as Mrs. Weasley was about to take one, causing the visitors to look at him peculiarly. “They’re, er, not really for human consumption,” he explained. “Well, I mean, they can be, but they’re not exactly a flavor humans are usually fond of, if you catch my drift.”

“What flavor?” Hermione questioned.

“Er. Well. Let’s just say they’re made with vampires in mind.”

“Merlin. They actually make chocolates with blood? Not just lollipops?” Ron asked, slightly faint. “And that’s…?”

Harry laughed. “Yep. You know, you’re rather lucky the chocolates you accidentally ate last year were the ones from Romilda, and not the other box I had…” Ron’s face paled in response.

“Party-pooper,” Luna huffed. “Well, perhaps you’d like lollipops, then? Here, there’s other flavors.” She held out a basket with at least fifty of various colors.

“And just what flavors are those?” Mrs. Weasley asked tepidly.

“Good flavors!”

Harry sighed. “Just stay away from the crimson ones, and you’ll be fine.” He grabbed one of the aforementioned crimson ones, unwrapped it, and popped it in his mouth. “The others are all sap-flavors. Maple, pine, birch, and sassafrass.”

“Sycamore,” Luna corrected. “But sassafrass would be good too. Although I suppose you can just get that a muggle candy shop, though it would just be called rootbeer. Oh, and there’s honey ones in there, too.” Luna held up the basket expectantly.

“Well, I suppose I could try a honey one…” Mrs. Weasley selected a gold lolli, unwrapped it, and popped it in her mouth. “Hmm. This tastes closer to maple than honey…”

“Oh, that’s a pine one, then. You like it?”

“Yes, it’s surprisingly pleasant. Thank you, Luna.”

Mr. Weasley and Hermione both took one too, feeling compelled to as Luna held the basket out to them with large doe-eyes. The former went safe with a maple one, and the latter decided to be daring so chose a slightly different ochre color than the pine which turned out to be sycamore, which she greatly enjoyed. Ron passed on treats. The group made their way out of the kitchen to where Draco and Sirius were.

“Blimey,” Ron marvelled. “You actually did get the portrait off the wall. It’s always weird to see pictures that don’t move though. And what’s with those weird creatures and glowing wands?” The painting of Warburgia had been replaced with a large Star Wars poster.

“Forget the picture-- you actually have electricity in here!” Mr. Weasley squeaked in excitement.

Sirius beamed. “That we do! Look!” he dashed over to a light switch, flicking it up and down to control the lights. Hermione chuckled at this display, as well as how Mr. Weasley’s eyes widened in awe.

“But how did you remove the portrait?” Mrs. Weasley mused. “We tried everything…”

“That was my idea!” Hermione told her excitedly. “Technically, they didn’t remove the portrait from the wall-- they removed the part of the wall it was on from the house, and replaced it.”

“Well, that’s certainly clever! But then, what did you do with the painting? Please don’t say you stuck it in some muggle dump.”

“Oh, we did,” Sirius told her, laughing at her horrified expression, before adding, “but we burned it first! No trace of her left in it. Anyway, that’s not what we want to show you; come upstairs!”

Sirius darted up to where the tapestry room formerly was, and everyone else followed, albeit slightly slower. The Weasleys and Hermione gaped at the room as the others looked at them with high pride at their accomplishment of the past three days. The room had doubled in size upon knocking out the wall-- from two squarish ones to a long rectangle, the door being on the end of a longer side-- and indeed had everything they had planned, and more. The walls had been covered in gryffindor-red velvet with fancy gold trim on top and bottom. The carpet was red-and-gold striped with lions throughout-- very busy, but suited to an arcade. Along the farther short wall lay a pinball machine, skeeball, a little basketball game, Pac-Man, and some sort of shooting game with fake guns attached. The short wall closest to them had a marble chess table flush against it with two marble stools, the kind which you might find in a park, a rack of pool sticks, and shelves with various card and board games. The wall right next to the door sported air hockey and foosball-- two games Sirius saw and insisted upon getting, despite not knowing how to play. The far long wall was adorned with various muggle posters, as well as a bench running all the way along it. The features of the room, centered on either side, were a pool table and a huge poker table surrounded by chairs. The lighting included hanging circular lights which perfectly illuminated the two tables, able to be turned on separately from the main overhead lights.

They were all quite obviously extremely impressed, so much so that no one seemed to know what to say for a long while.

“So, how many people do you expect to be playing poker-- er, exploding snap--” Ron glanced at his mother, who would not like the idea of them gambling-- “at once? There must be a dozen chairs around that table!”

“Well, I figured your friend group often plays, and it’s fairly large, right?” Sirius reasoned. “There’s the five of you here, plus Blaise, Daphne, Adrian, Neville, and Ginny when she recovers. That’s ten. Plus Fred and George like hanging with you, too. So there had to be enough room for you all to play, and possibly me as well, if you’d allow, if you have a get-together. I was also hoping maybe some Order members would want to stay after meetings sometimes, to play-- that’d be grand, don’t you think?”

Remus chuckled. “He tried putting sixteen chairs initially; we reasoned him down to eight, as chances are not everyone will be here at once, and if they are, most likely not all playing. If more ever do, we can always conjure more chairs. Looks like four more got added though…” he looked pointedly at Sirius, who grinned sheepishly.

“Okay, fine, I’ll remove the extra.” Sirius flicked his wand and the extra chairs vanished, leaving just eight circling the table, making it look more orderly.

“This room is absolutely amazing,” Hermione chimed. “It’s so… muggle, yet seems magical at the same time.”

“Muggles do have their moments,” Draco beamed. “Amusement parks, carnivals, and clubs can be amazing, too; sometimes you can forget there’s no magic at them. And the cinema! We saw a film last night. Films are amazing! I don’t know how muggles came up with that before wizards. The one we saw had talking animals. Talking. Animals. How do they even get the animals to talk like that?”

“Draco, you sound like a little kid,” Harry chuckled. “And I told you, they record the images of the animals first, then record the voices spoken by humans, and then put them together.”

“You should have seen him last summer, when we went to see an animated film!” Sirius proclaimed. “Hercules, it was called. He was raving about how they made the pictures move, claiming there was no way it can be done without magic!”

Draco blushed. “Hey, I wasn’t that bad.”

“I think I might want to see a film, now,” Ron said.

“Well, now that we have electricity, we installed a large television downstairs!” Sirius said excitedly. “It even has a built-in VCR, so we can use it to watch videos!”

“I honestly have no idea what you just said,” Ron admitted.

“Show me it!!” Mr. Weasley demanded, already heading downstairs, as his wife sighed at his eagerness. 

Mrs. Weasley, however, ended up being quite enthralled by the television, as well, getting so caught up in the chosen film-- Titanic-- that she even cried a little. 

The rest of the day and night ended up essentially being a movie marathon for the Weasleys and Lupin-- Star Wars, A Bug’s Life, Babe, and Flubber-- while Sirius and the young adults already familiar with such took over the game room. Luna achieved all the high-scores on all the arcade games while Sirius taught the others pool, and then Harry and Hermione taught them air hockey and foosball, of which Luna thrashed them at.

Overall, Easter vacation seemed to be going pretty well. 

 

*******

 

“To pass beyond is what I seek, I fear that I may be too weak / And those are few who’ve seen it through to glimpse the other side / The promised land is waiting like a--”

Draco paused the Walkman. “Someone’s here.”

“Yes, I too heard the door open,” Harry acknowledged.

“It’s so early in the day; who do you think it’ll be? Sirius and Lupin are still asleep.”

Harry chuckled. “9am isn’t really that early; those two will sleep until past noon if you let them.”

“Yes, but none of out friends would be here this early, I mean.”

“Then it’s an Order member. No use worrying about it; they’ll find whomever they want to talk to, probably Lupin… I’m going to go outside, rest in the warm sun a bit.” Harry changed into his coral snake form and slithered away. He enjoyed resting in the sun as a snake, for he couldn’t do such in his vampire form. It was also similar to the half-sleep he could do in the cat form; as close as he could get to actually sleeping. He really did miss sleeping, oddly enough. Or perhaps that was just the nagging depression talking, the fog always tickling the back of his mind-- he had thought it was getting better, until the tomb incident. 

Draco sighed as he watched Harry slither off. He disliked it when Harry wasn’t near him. Yes, he was aware of how clingy and overprotective it seemed, but could you blame him? Harry always seemed to get into trouble whenever left alone for too long. Besides, Harry was just as clingy, and Draco was essentially the only one who could fully calm him when he panicked. Madam Strout called it dangerously codependent, said it could be best to give some distance. Well, letting Harry go sun himself for twenty minutes before checking was giving distance, right? Draco picked up a book from the table and began reading while lounging lazily on a settee.

“Ah, there you are, Draco,” Dumbledore said pleasantly, entering the sitting room with Snape and McGonagall. “Might I ask where Harry is? It is quite unusual to find you two separated.” 

“We’d also like to see Sirius, Remus, and Luna, too,” McGonagall added.

“I would assume the dogs are most likely asleep,” Snape drawled. “Although I too am rather curious as to where Harry would be, if not with you.”

“Er… bathroom?” Draco had to figure out what to do; no one else but Luna knew of the snake form; most the others, especially the older adults, were not very approving of their frequent interactions with cosmic beings, and would not like the fact Harry got yet another ability gifted to him from one...

Speaking of Luna, a jackalope appeared in the doorway, whom McGonagall and Snape were staring at in utter disbelief, while Dumbledore merely smiled knowingly.

“[He is outside, as the snake; find him!]” Draco told her, and she immediately hopped away after nodding once in understanding.

“Was that what I think it was?” McGonagall muttered faintly.

“Ah, yes, Miss Lovegood’s animagus form is a jackalope,” Dumbledore informed her pleasantly.

“But… those don’t…”

“Have you not learned by now that it is useless questioning anything about Lovegood?” Snape drawled. “Whereas this is indeed interesting, I doubt we’ll find an answer to why she has an imaginary creature as her animagus form other than ‘It’s Luna’.”

McGonagall sighed. “Yes, I suppose that is true… Mister Malfoy, just what are you reading?!”

Draco blushed, and slowly slid the book on sex magic under a cushion. “Just something I found it in the library here…”

Meanwhile, Harry was contently curled up on a large rock, the morning sunlight perfectly covering him. Nice and warm… he drifted in the bliss of near-sleep, focused only on the pleasant heat of the sun, a heat he rarely got to feel without using many protective measures… 

Suddenly, something rudely prodded him awake. Something big. Danger? Harry instantly uncurled, rearing up and hissing, fangs flashing in warning.

“Relax, Harry, it is me,” Luna said liltingly. “There are visitors here who would like to see you. You need to change form now.”

The snake seemed to sulk at that, then changed form-- but not to vampire, rather to cat, then looked at Luna defiantly, as if daring her to say anything about it.

Luna merely picked Harry up and headed inside. “It’s okay to want to escape,” Luna informed him. “That is why I was in my jackalope form earlier. It’s just nice feeling to let the animal mind take over for a bit, put your worries to the side for a while.”

Harry purred in her arms.

“I found Harry,” Luna announced, entering the sitting room.

“Would Harry mind changing out of his animagus form?” Dumbledore requested.

Harry meowed, then began purring as Luna scratched behind his ears.

“Luna, stop that; he won’t come out if the cat part is that contented,” Draco scolded.

“Oh, fine.” Luna stopped the petting. “Harry, you need to change back now.”

Harry complied. “So… I assume you’re here about the thing you mentioned at the last Order meeting…”

“Yes, that is correct.”

“But why are Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape here?” Draco asked Dumbledore. “It’s just us three going. Humans can’t, not without a mad amount of danger, unless happening on dream-steppes while sleeping.”

“Ah, that is where you are incorrect,” Dumbledore announced. “You see, I came across this simple ritual,” he held out a paper imbued with an odd magic, “which is perfectly safe and will create a portkey of sorts that will lead there and back. It’ll let four people at once go.”

Harry stared at the paper. There was definitely something off about it. Odd symbols, and almost gave its own aura. Draco and Luna seemed to notice it too.

“[What do you two think? Should we trust it?]” Harry asked them in the dream-tongue.

“[It’s suspicious to the tenth degree,]” Draco agreed.

“[You need to burn it,]” Luna decided. “[See that symbol on it? It is the elder sign. Protects one from cosmic entities.]”

“Where did you find it?” Harry asked Dumbledore.

“Why, it was in a book on the Dreamlands,” Dumbledore replied.

“Stuck in there loose-leaf like that?” Draco inquired.

“Well, yes, but why does that matter? It’s here, and should work…”

Draco squinted at Dumbledore. “[His aura is slightly off too.]”

“[The magic on the paper seems to be influencing him,]” Luna pointed out.

“[Right. That tears it.]” Harry snapped his fingers dramatically, and Dumbledore leapt away from the paper as it dissolved into flames. He appeared slightly dazed, and looked around in befuddlement.

“Mister Potter! Why would you do such a thing?” McGonagall demanded, quite angry.

Snape, however, seemed perfectly calm. “I expected such. The spell was too good to be true, wasn’t it?” he asked.

Draco nodded. “It was imbued with magic and symbols from the Old Gods, who have been helping the Dark Lord. It is highly probable that it would either lead into a trap, or seal you from going, possibly even target us somehow.” He gestured to himself, Harry, and Luna on that last line.

Dumbledore, who had recovered his senses right before Draco’s explanation, thanked them for realizing such. “However, now begs the question of how we will get there; I do not wish for you three to go there alone…”

“But we go there all the time,” Draco said, confused.

“But not when facing such a threat.”

“I suppose that’s a good point…”

“You can just use the lucid-dreaming draught,” Harry suggested.

"Yo! No one is using that in this house again!” Sirius insisted, entering the room with Lupin. “Especially you, Harry!”

“Relax! I’m not going to!”

“The dog is correct. No one here will be using that,” Snape asserted coldly.

“Besides, the White Ship can take us,” Luna said happily.

“Luna, you know it won’t take full-humans…” Harry sighed.

“No, I asked it the other day. He said if we are there with them, we may each bring one human. So that means all of us here can go.”

“Well, that certainly works, then!” Dumbledore cheered. “How will that work?”

“Everyone must sleep. Then, Harry and Draco collect the ship, and the ship will retrieve us from our dreams.”

“Wait. If it’s only one per person, only three of us can go with you three,” Lupin pointed out. “Two will be left behind.”

“Well, I’m definitely going!” Sirius insisted.

Luna looked at Lupin as if he had seven heads. “No one needs to be left behind. There are four full-humans here, and four non- or part- humans here.”

Lupin looked stunned. “You’re including me in that count? But I thought--”

“The White Ship does not mind werewolves,” Luna told him sagely. “Only the humans are problematic. As long as each full-human is escorted by one who is not, it should be fine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: How will the older adults react to the Dreamlands? What information will be uncovered? Cats! A priest! Celebration! Someone else joins them! A merchant in a bar!


	23. Dreamquest: part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Then Carter did a wicked thing, offering his guileless host so many draughts of the moon-wine which the zoogs had given him that the old man became irresponsibly talkative. Robbed of his reserve, poor Atal babbled freely of forbidden things...  
> As [Carter] turned to go, he observed that no suppressed fluttering followed him, and wondered why the zoogs had become so lax in their curious pursuit. Then he noticed all the sleek complacent cats of Ulthar licking their chops with unusual gusto, and recalled the spitting and caterwauling he had faintly heard in lower parts of the temple while absorbed in the old priest’s conversation. He recalled, too, the evilly hungry way in which an especially impudent young zoog had regarded a small black kitten in the cobbled street outside. And because he loved nothing on earth more than small black kittens, he stooped and petted the sleek cats of Ulthar as they licked their chops, and did not mourn because those inquisitive zoogs would escort him no farther."  
> \--H.P. Lovecraft, excerpt from "The Dreamquest of Unknown Kadath"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is heavily based upon the beginning of Lovecraft's novella "The Dreamquest of Unknown Kadath."

Luna was slightly off on that, for the White Ship was a bit frustrated at the appearance of five extra people-- it had indeed meant one each for Harry, Draco, and Luna specifically, not for non-humans in general, thus had been expecting three. But it reluctantly acquiesced, as it technically was only one extra human, and had remembered that Dumbledore had done no harm. Besides, it fully trusted Harry, Draco, and Luna, especially as they were graced by various cosmic entities.

Despite technically being there via dreaming, the five of them would not wake until the White Ship returned them, just as had been the case with Luna up until recently. Harry had apparated her there this time, whereas Draco had apparated himself-- of course, they wouldn’t be letting the adults know that! Draco having most the cosmic abilities Harry did was still a huge secret, after all-- not even their friends, bar Luna, knew the full of the extent of them; except for Blaise, who had experienced some of the more powerful abilities, the others thought Draco had just the minor ones like allergies, seeing auras, languages, and other benign things that Draco acquired through consuming Harry’s blood. They had debated telling Remus and Sirius, but ultimately figured it best not to-- more for the fact that once knowing it was possible for Harry to take humans, Sirius would try insisting upon it, even though Luna seemed much easier to take than a normal human, probably due to her ties to the Dreamworld-- and no problem at all when Selardi helped out, like this time. The one time Harry accidentally took Dumbledore had been a huge drain, though it was unknown whether that had been due to taking a human or merely because it was from transporting two beings at once.

“So, these are the Dreamlands,” Snape mused. “Very interesting.”

“You probably won’t remember them,” Luna informed the man. “Only experienced Dreamers do, or those who come here physically. Oh, and certain magical creatures, like vampires. The first few times here humans come through dreams they forget much, as with a usual dream. You probably won’t remember the dream-language, either, and if you do it’ll only be for a short while.”

“But you three speak it all the time,” Sirius pointed out.

“That’s because we come here all the time. The cosmic magic helps too.”

McGonagall looked at the trio curiously. “You come here all the time?”

“Yeah, we’ve been going nearly weekly for a while now,” Harry admitted. “Luna’s been taking frequent dream journeys via the White Ship since a kid, as she’s related to one of the guardians of here, and we’ve been doing so too since two summers ago. The first time was earlier than that, shortly after that ritual we did, due to a joint request from the Old Ones and Old Gods-- they had an understanding with the cosmic beings back then, which ended when I gained cosmic magic. They wanted us to help out the cats in Ulthar. The ship met us on the Hogwarts lake for that. We didn’t go again until two summers ago, when Luna found a potion that would let us sleep so that the ship could pick us up, upon which we began going regularly-- about once every two or so human weeks at first, then it gradually increased.”

“It was lonely always going alone,” Luna admitted. “Though I hadn’t realized until the trip to Ulthar with Harry and Draco.”

“But you don’t use the potion anymore,” Dumbledore stated.

“Right. Now I can apparate right there, with Draco,” Harry confirmed. “Once finding that out, we stopped using the potion.”

McGonagall frowned. “Isn’t it more dangerous to go physically though? You mentioned in the dream state, injuries don’t carry over to the waking world, and if you die here the only consequence is you can’t return.”

“Not with the potion they were using,” Lupin stated dryly. “And with what the long-term effects of it were. Effects that were apparently amplified in Harry’s case, due to also adjusting to the cosmic magic during that time.”

Sirius glared at them. “Wait a minute. We caught you with it at Christmas, and you said you wouldn’t use it anymore after that. Yet now you say you used it until discovering you could apparate there, which was more than a month later!”

Harry blushed and looked down guiltily. “Sorry.”

“What potion was it?” McGonagall asked. “And what were the long-term effects? Was this why your grades were dropping last year?”

“I can only think of one potion that would cause beings that do not sleep to sleep with dreams,” Snape said tersely. “The Lucid-Dreaming Draught. It is illegal and highly addictive. Using it that frequently would start to cause any or all of a number of things: loss of concentration, maladaptive daydreaming, hallucinations, delusions, reduced ability to control magic, dissociation, and paranoia, most commonly. Combine that with the slew of other substances they were using, and it is no surprise their grades dropped.”

Sirius frowned. “Other substances? Do you mean the firewhiskey and cannabis? Because neither would cause such, except for when actually on it.”

“Which they were multiple times in class,” Snape informed Sirius, with a sneer. “They are extremely lucky they were not suspended or expelled for that. But even luckier in that they weren’t caught with the other drugs I know for fact they were taking, as I saw memories of them in Occlumency practice. Harry has been doing much better this year, but last year I suspect he was drunk or high the majority of the time.”

Lupin narrowed his eyes at Harry. “Is this true?”

“No,” Harry quickly lied. “I mean, yeah, I tried some stuff, but wasn’t on it that much. Snape’s grossly over exaggerating.”

“Tried some stuff?” Sirius put his hands on his hips, eerily reminiscent of Mrs. Weasley. “What ‘stuff’, exactly?”

“Just… various random things. Nothing bad, really.”

“Nyx is the best one…” Luna said dreamily. “That’s the one that caused us to first meet Azathoth, and allowed us to communicate with the gods…”

“Luna, do you have any sense of when to hide things?” Draco grumbled. Not that it mattered much. They’d all forget this after. Probably. Though perhaps Lupin wouldn’t, being a werewolf.

Dumbledore looked at the trio, a peculiar expression on his face. “Do you mean to say that this all started because you took an illegal potion?”

Harry blinked in surprise. Come to think of it… “I… I suppose it technically did…” 

“I don’t think so,” Luna asserted. “Can you really tell where a butterfly effect such as this begins? You could say it began long before that, when Harry became a vampire-- or rather, Draco’s decision to turn Harry. If he hadn’t, we all wouldn’t have become friends, after all. Or perhaps it originated with those who made Harry’s life bad enough to want to die. Or with Voldy, when he attacked Harry as a baby, therefore making Harry into the Chosen One.”

“But the Old Gods told you to go to the Department of Mysteries,” Dumbledore pointed out. 

“It still could have begun earlier,” Luna insisted. “What if Draco and Harry never kissed, rather remained acquaintances? Then they would not have met each others’ friends, thus Harry would not have had the potion, and Draco would not have been to visit, thus wouldn’t remember the mirror, meaning Harry would have gone to the Ministry anyway.”

“All this metaphorical what-if stuff is giving me a headache,” Draco complained. “What happened, happened. It’s in the past. No use hypothesizing over could-have-beens.”

Snape nodded. “Yes, Draco has a good point. It is useless pondering over such matters.”

“Besides, we probably should decide where we’re going to start investigating,” McGonagall pointed out. “The Captain has been wanting to know.”

 

*******

 

The White Ship drifted down the river Skai, and Harry, Draco, and Luna pointed out various places as they passed them. Soon, they came across a great stone bridge, upon which the White Ship left them, bidding them farewell and reminding them to simply find a pier or large bridge if they desired it to retrieve them.

“So, to which direction ought we head?” McGonagall asked contritely. Each side of the bridge presented a town in the distance, with various houses dotting a long street wavering over a rolling hilled plain, and in the direction the river continued the mountains which sourced it were barely visible on the horizon.

“We want to go that way, to Ulthar, where the cats reside,” Draco informed them. “Over on the other side is Nir, beyond which lies the Enchanted Forest; it is very possible the Dark Lord began his journey there, for that’s the most common place dream-steps manifest, if he indeed use such, but the zoogs that inhabit it are currently in a cold war with the cats, whom we are strongly allied with, so our presence there might give them the wrong impression.” Draco could tell from the older adults’ expressions that they had barely followed that explanation. “... Just follow us.”

The eight travellers walked for a few hours, with the three regulars attempting to explain to the new dreamers the politics and realms of the Dreamlands. Soon they came upon the suburbs of Ulthar, consisting of quaint green houses plopped in the middle of small farms surrounded by low fences. Around mid-afternoon he group finally reached the town of Ulthar, quiet as they entered on a cobblestone street, the houses beside it fenced with low walls or hedges. It was quite charming, the houses resembling those of the victorian-era with peaked roofs and brick chimneys. The town seemed as though it was stuck in time, a true reflection of the past, no signs of modernity such as electrical wires or storm drains in sight.

“Mrrow.” Selardi gestured to a small cobblestone wall where two cats stared at the group curiously.

Harry and Draco shifted into their cat forms, the former black and furry with a small line of brown on the forehead and the latter pure white with prim fur. Of course, in the Dreamlands, one did not have to be a cat to converse with the cats-- although their language was slightly different than the traditional dream-tongue the human-like inhabitants spoke-- but the two enjoyed doing such anyway. Luna joined them in their discussion, as she too was familiar with the language of cats, having learned it early on in her dream-travels. They asked the cats if they had heard anything about a snake-like human, and the cats spoke of rumors about how supposedly such a man had appeared a few months back to converse with Atal, the priest in the Temple of Elder Ones; the cats did not know why Atal would speak with such a man, and could only assume he had been tricked, as the cat-generals soon drove the snake-man out of the town. The trio thanked the cats, and returning to their regular forms, led the others towards the center of town, where the temple lay.

Atal was reluctant to speak of the encounter, but as Harry, Luna, and Draco were regarded as heroes in Ulthar, felt he could not refuse their questions. He apologetically told them about how the snake-man came to him asking about what powers there were that could destroy a cosmic being. Atal had decidedly denied telling him such, for he was a priest of the Great Ones, but the moon-wine from the zoogs that the snake-man brought made the 400-year-old man give him the sought information, speaking of how the moon-frogs had been subduing such. 

Of course, they knew all about such, as the moon-frogs had been the ones to capture Harry, and subsequently all been destroyed by the cats when they rescued him. Thus, Voldemort would have found a dead-end there. Still, perhaps it would be worth it to stop by Dylath-Leen, the city that formerly traded with the moon people, as Voldemort would have had to stop there before and after discovering the moon city was no more.

“Wait,” Luna said, turning to Atal as the others were bidding farewell. “Would it be okay if we view the Pnakotic Manuscripts and Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan? I have always been curious about them.”

“Of course,” Atal instantly allowed. “You are a descendant of the Great Ones; it would be my failing as a priest of such to deny you the right to see such.”

While Luna, Harry, Draco, and a curious McGonagall went to view the manuscripts, Dumbledore stayed to converse with Atal, whom he had found a kindred spirit in, Sirius and Lupin went to wait outside, and Snape went to find an inn, for it was dangerous to travel at night. Besides, even though they didn’t need to eat or sleep while here, it was still refreshing to do so. 

Although, Luna did seem fairly tired, Harry noted… could being there physically mean she would actually need food and sleep? After all, the others’ bodies, being on earth, were still experiencing earth-time even though their consciousnesses were experiencing the faster Dreamlands-time. But since Luna’s body was here, did it experience time as if it were what she knew on earth, needing to sleep each night here and eat every so often? And what about Harry and Draco? Although they could do without blood while here, they still ate and drank regular food, just out of habit and because they could actually taste things while there. What if they didn’t? Would they get hungry? More research would need to be done.

“Hmm. Looks like there’s only one moon out tonight,” Luna mused, as they exited to find the sun had set. “A shame. It’s pretty when both are there.”

“No, it’s bloody annoying,” Harry countered. “All the shadows are messed up, and the lighting is all weird because they’re two different colors.”

“Aww, don’t be like that,” Draco told Harry teasingly. “I know you think they’re pretty too.”

“Okay, fine, it is rather pretty. Still annoying though.”

The others were merely enthralled, and a little disconcerted, by the fact that the moon currently visible bathed them in a deep red-gold colour. 

Eventually they all met up at the inn, where they settled down to the hearty dinner of lamb stew with bread that the inn had prepared for all guests that night, along with healthy doses of mead. Selardi was given a dish of milk and plate of lamb prepared just for her-- a show of Ulthar’s immense respect of cats. There were other guests there too, and eventually they all began singing drinking songs together that they found they somehow all knew the words to.

Harry, Luna, Draco, and Selardi were then drawn out of the inn and into the town square, conveniently located next to the inn, as the bells chimed and lutenists began playing a happy melody. A fire had been drawn which the cats and people of Ulthar danced happily around; they used any opportunity they could for revellance, and a visit from the Earth-dwellers whom had saved the cats-- an event that now was to them something in history books-- was always a reason to celebrate. Their other earthly companions did not join in, although they watched the dancing from the balcony of their room, Dumbledore’s eyes twinkling as he reflected on the virulence of youth.

The next day, the Ultharian people, upon learning where the group was headed, offered to take them with the caravans heading there with goods to trade. However, they had a ship they could use, which was faster. The people were very impressed to learn the group were friends of the White Ship, for it was very difficult to gain its favor, particularly for humans of Earth. They did however allow the caravan to bring them to the bridge where the White Ship would meet them, as the caravan was heading there anyway, for it would be using the road along the opposite side of the river to head to Dylath-Leen, which was at Skai’s mouth.

It took a few hours for the ship to retrieve them, during which some cats happily resided with the group. Two twin kittens asked if they could come with, but Selardi told them they were too young, and their mother agreed. So the ship set sail, with four humans, a werewolf, two vampires, a part-goddess, and a part-kneazle familiar of death.

A few hours later, the ship stopped at a pier of a small fishing village.

“Why are we stopping here?” Harry asked, quite puzzled.

“There is someone who wishes to join your journey,” the ship replied.

The group looked at each other in puzzlement and worry. Someone else? Who would it be? Who else knew they were doing this?

“Meow,” Mrs. Norris happily greeted them. How she knew of the piers or their travels, they knew not, but cats are mysterious in their ways, said to know secrets humans do not.

 

*******

 

The eight humanoid travellers and two cats arrived in Dylath-Leen fairly swiftly, as the White Ship could sail faster than your average ship. Two days was all it took, the ship conjuring games and books for those who desired such, though the new travellers mostly spoke to the captain and experienced dreamers, learning about the various aspects and areas of the Dreamlands. They were huddled in the cabins belowdeck when they arrived, for a dismal drizzle had developed that day.

Dylath-leen was constructed almost entirely of basalt, appearing deeply ominous between the rain and grey spiralling towers that constructed the city. Luna, Harry, and Draco explained that that was only due to the rain; they had been there on nicer days when cheerful merchants of a multitude of species from across all of earth’s Dreamlands-- and occasionally a few from those of other planets-- proudly displayed their wares. 

As they disembarked, the group noted that there were still merchants peddling wares, from under various tents, awnings, and canvas pavilions. Thus, they separated, agreeing to meet at a certain tavern, and began interviewing the merchants as to what they knew about Voldemort while the cats spoke with the native cats. A few had heard rumors, but nothing concrete; after an hour of such, the group met at the inn, commandeering the end of a long table that could fit twenty or more people while they drank large steins of the local mead.

After a while, a merchant with narrow eyes, stature and skin slightly resemblant to that of a dark skinned house-elf yet with tiny feet rather than large, a too-wide smile, and a monster of a turban that rose in two points, slid into one of the empty seats next to them. Harry shivered; he knew what was under that turban. This was one of the former servants of the moon-frogs; from what Harry had gathered via other merchants, they and the porgs now ruled the moon together as equals-- formerly, the humans and frog people ruled, with the horned merchants servants who did the more ‘distinguished’ work such as trading, for they were just as intelligent as any human and looked humanoid enough to fit in, and the small closer-to-human yet troll-level-intelligence porgs even lesser servants who did the dreg work. How they could rule on an even plane was anyone’s guess, but apparently they were making it work. 

“I hear you seek information on the snake-man,” the horned merchant said in a raspy voice. “I have such information.”

“Great!” Sirius cheered. “So, you’ve seen him around?”

“Perhaps. What would you trade me for such information?”

“Trade?”

“Oh, I have something,” Luna said, handing the merchant an unmarked bag.

The merchant opened the pouch, and then nodded. “Yes, this will suffice. The snake-man conned one of our ship captains. He claimed he was a geologist, thus wished to study the nature of our unique strand of rubies, as they cannot be found anywhere else. The captain believed him, thus brought him. Upon arriving on the moon, the captain led him to the artifact hall, to show him some of the things we created using the purest of our rubies, rubies so pure that they possess magical energy. However, according to some of the captain’s aides, he began asking uncomfortable questions about how some of those items had been used by the frogs to collect and subdue unusual beings to use as entertainment. However, it is taboo to speak of such; the knowledge is forbidden, only now known by our elders, and thus will eventually die out. This made the snake-man angry; he grabbed the rod of pain, killed the captain with it, stole other items of importance, and fled on one of our ships. A fleet was sent out, which I was on, but he was too far ahead; when we made it out of the star-gulfs, he was already heading over the horizon. We did not pursue further, for it would not have been worth sending a fleet out simply for one ship when there were none of our people on it.”

“Did you see which direction he was headed?” Dumbledore asked calmly.

“Eastward, though as he is interested in learning of the cosmic beings, it is possible he turned south along the way towards Oriab; there is a large shrine there for such. The aides said the captain told him about that, before the snake-man began asking about the taboos. That is all I know.”

Lupin smiled. “Thank you very much.”

“No need for thanks; it was a fair trade. Now, if you excuse me, I have other matters to attend to.” The merchant left.

“Luna,” McGonagall said contritely. “What is it you gave him in exchange for the information?” From the looks of it, she expected to be disappointed with whatever Luna had been carrying around, since earlier she had caught Luna trading some illegal substances-- well, illegal in wizarding Britain-- with some shady merchants.

However, Luna did not cause such disappointment with her answer, rather slight confusion: “A gurdyroot.”

“A… gurdyroot?”

Draco jumped in to explain. “The people here like things from Earth, especially things with magical properties. Gurdyroot is considered very valuable.”

“Right, that’s good and interesting,” Sirius interrupted, “But does it really matter what specifically was traded? We got the information. He’s probably going to this Oriab place. Harry, do you know of it?”

“Of course!” Harry said as though it were obvious, “We’ve been to it’s port-city, Baharna, a number of times. It has lovely twin lighthouses, and is full of artists-- it’s especially well-known for the pottery and figurines. The island itself is very large, with a volcano and an inland lake. There’s some small villages along the Lake of Yath, mostly consisting of resin-farmers and lava-gatherers. There’s a large carving on the far side of Ngranek-- the volcano-- featuring a Great One, though few go to see it since it is so difficult to reach, especially since night-gaunts live upon it and there’s tunnels to the underworld there. On the far side of the lake there’s the ruins of another large city, but people tend to stay away since there’s rumors that strange things happen there; no one knows how it became ruins, but it’s been like that so long no one even recalls the name of it. When we went… well, it wasn’t pleasant.”

Dumbledore looked at the three curiously. “Just how often are you in the Dreamlands?” he asked. “You seem to know it awfully well.”

The three looked like deer in headlights. “Er. Well, as you know, a week here is only a couple hours on Earth… so, plenty of time to explore even if we go occasionally.”

“Hmm. That is true, I suppose. Very well; let’s head back to the ship-- no reason to waste time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: The dreamquest continues! Will they find what they're looking for?


	24. Dreamquest: part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "It was long ere any traveller went thither, and even then only the brave and adventurous young men of distant Falona dared make the journey; adventurous young men of yellow hair and blue eyes, who are no kin to the men of Mnar. These men indeed went to the lake to view Sarnath; but though they found the vast still lake itself, and the grey rock Akurion which rears high above it near the shore, they beheld not the wonder of the world and pride of all mankind. Where once had risen walls of 300 cubits and towers yet higher, now stretched only the marshy shore, and where once had dwelt fifty millions of men now crawled only the detestable green water-lizard. Not even the mines of precious metal remained, for DOOM had come to Sarnath.  
> But half buried in the rushes was spied a curious green idol of stone; an exceedingly ancient idol coated with seaweed and chiselled in the likeness of Bokrug, the great water-lizard. That idol, enshrined in the high temple at Ilarnek, was subsequently worshipped beneath the gibbous moon throughout the land of Mnar."  
> \--H.P Lovecraft, excerpt from "The DOOM That Came to Sarnath"

“I don’t think we’ll actually find him in Oriab,” Harry mused suddenly. He, Luna, and Draco were holed up in one of the ship’s lower cabins, passing around a joint and imbibing on the ship’s seemingly endless liquor stock, which mostly consisted of rum; for two days they’d been on the sea already, and there were a few more to go.

“What makes you say that?” Draco asked curiously.

“Hmm. Well, he’s looking for things to subdue another Old One, right? The people around there are all artists. The most relating to gods are the figurines they sculpt and some of the pictures on their pottery. There’s not much information to be found there, other than legends and rumors, so he wouldn’t have stayed long, if he even did go...”

“But it’s the only lead we have,” Luna pointed out. “Besides, I want to get another figurine.”

Draco laughed. “This isn’t a sightseeing tour, Luna!”

“Yes, but if we’re going there anyway…”

Harry frowned, holding out his hand in a gesture to stop speaking. “Hold on. The ship is slowing.”

The trio glanced at each other, and dashed-- well, more like stumbled quickly-- from the room, making their way to the deck to see what was going on. Another ship was next to them, merchants heading to Zar from Oriab. A gangway connected the two ships, and the captain was talking to Dumbledore. It was a warning for those heading to Oriab: there had been an attack, and Baharna had severe damage from it. A snake-man had visited, becoming enraged when he learned there wasn’t any information he wanted; he used some ruby wand to destroy things, and a group of night-gaunts joined in, though it was unclear if they followed him or simply saw an opportunity. His ship had then headed in the direction of Mnar. Dumbledore relayed all this to the rest of them once the ship had left.

“Mnar?” Harry asked. “You sure he said Mnar?”

“Yes, I am sure. Why?”

Harry sighed. “Firstly, it’s another five days away. Secondly, not many travel there; it has a somewhat awkward reputation, and nothing particularly notable enough to make going that far worth it-- many millennia ago, it was the center of everything, but now it’s nothing impressive. We haven’t been there yet because of it.”

“And we wouldn’t have gone otherwise,” Draco grumbled. “Great. He just had to go eastward. Couldn’t have been westward, to Xura or Sona-Nyl…”

Dumbledore frowned. “Again, you seem to be extremely familiar with these lands. There are many areas, yet you know most well. How often did you say you come here, again?”

“Well, you know,” Harry said nervously, “Like we said before, a few days here is just a few hours on Earth, so we can explore a lot even by going occasionally.”

“Yes. You have said you go once every week or two. By that logic, between each trip it would have been years here. Yet the bartender in Dylath-Leen seemed to know you well.” Dumbledore was much too perceptive, Harry decided. Well, had known all along, really. He should have expected this.

“But we do come here biweekly,” Luna said matter-of-factly.

Dawning of understanding sparked in Snape’s aura, and he raised an eyebrow. “Biweekly on Earth, or biweekly here?”

“Here, of course. Well, sometimes we miss a week, if we had other things to do over there. Harry can take us right to Dylath-Leen, so we have drinks and then from there we go other places, like Baharna or Ulthar.” As Luna said this, Draco and Harry sighed. She was much too candid, as usual.

“So what you’re ultimately saying is that you leave Earth a few times a day,” Lupin stated.

“You’re spending more time here than on Earth!” Sirius marvelled.

“I suppose I can see the appeal,” Dumbledore said solemnly, “but I have told you my thoughts on the matter. It is a dangerous place. You told me you would limit your travels here; I do not appreciate being lied to.”

“But we didn’t lie,” Luna insisted. “There’s weeks between our trips, just as we told you.” Draco and Harry nodded in agreement.

Snape chuckled slightly. “Sometimes I’m surprised only one of you is in Slytherin.”

“I have often wondered if perhaps we sort too soon,” Dumbledore admitted reluctantly. His aura showed distinct speckles of orange-- he was extremely annoyed by all this, it seemed. “Do you three always spend weeks here when you visit?”

Draco shook his head. “No. Sometimes it’s just a day, or a few hours. Harry usually needs a week or two to recharge his apparition ability, or about two or three hours on Earth, but the White Ship can take us back before then if we want. That city is very near the edge, which is how it travels to Earth; so we can pop in for drinks and get back to Hogwarts within a few hours if needed, which would be a few minutes there.”

McGonagall pursed her lips. “This wouldn’t have to do with why you’re often daydreaming and losing concentration in class, would it?”

“No, that would be the drugs and alcohol,” Snape said bluntly.

Dumbledore frowned deeply. “I believe I warned you not to have such in Hogwarts anymore.”

“Actually,” Luna corrected cheerfully, “You said not to have anymore illegal _potions_ and to keep any drinking of alcohol in _private._ Which we have complied with.”

“Illegal potions!” McGonagall gasped, looking slightly faint. “You three have been using such?”

“No, we stopped that at school because Dumbledore threatened to expel us,” Luna lied matter-of-factly. Somehow, no one noticed she was still drinking from a big bottle of rum, or if they did, they were opting not to say such.

“Of course. Now you just use the muggle things the dog gave you,” Snape sneered. “Isn’t that right?”

Lupin glared at Sirius. “Is that true? I explicitly told you not to let them bring it to school!”

“Hey, don’t look at me!” Sirius held his hands out and shrugged. “If they got it from my stocks, they did so without asking.”

Draco rolled his eyes. “It’s not exactly difficult to get muggle drugs; just walk onto the campus of any school and you’ll find someone with them-- we can smell it easily enough.”

“Draco!” Harry scolded. “Show some inhibition!”

Draco sneered playfully. “Inhibition? What’s that again?”

“Something he shouldn’t have right now. Here.” Luna handed Harry the bottle of rum. Now the older companions noticed it.

“Are you three drunk right now?!” McGonagall gasped.

Harry shrugged. “We’re of age. Here, want some? The ship has plenty.”

“You may be, but Luna is not.”

“Yes I am,” Luna corrected. “For two months now. But that doesn’t matter; there’s no age limit on the open seas! Or anywhere else here, really.”

“Exactly. So, if any of you old coots want to have some fun, just follow us!” Harry held the bottle over his head as he, Luna, and Draco headed back to the cabin.

“Hey, wait up, we’ll join in,” Sirius called, grabbing Lupin’s wrist and following.

“Wait, what? Sirius--”

“Oh, shut up, Moony. You’re just being stuffy because they’re here.” Sirius gestured to McGonagall, Snape, and Dumbledore. “We’re heading into unknown, and possibly dangerous, territory next! Let loose while you can!”

Once they had left, McGonagall smiled at the remaining two. “Perhaps he is correct; might as well, seeing as we now have five more days on open waters. What do you say?”

“Perhaps one or two would not hurt,” Snape mused. “As long as it is not with them.”

“Don’t worry, I have plenty of cabins and plenty of drinks-- rum, ale, cider, even wine if you prefer.” The ship had manifested the captain to inform them of this.

“Perhaps some butterbeer,” Dumbledore decided.

The captain frowned. “Do you mean buttered-beere? I do not have all the ingredients to make proper buttered-beere, nor a cooling closet to store any extra, but if we pass by a port, perhaps the inn there could make some for you.”

Dumbledore looked surprised. “Ingredients? You do not have any bottled?”

“Bottled?”

McGonagall chuckled. “I am not sure you two are speaking of the same drink.”

 

*******

 

Twilight on the fourth night of their journey to Mnar found the group under a cloudy sky passing time via a card game of the type which did not exist in the waking world. That is, until a dark wind blew across the seas and over the ship’s deck, tossing a good portion of the cards into the stormy sea.

“Hey! What was that for!” Harry bristled.

Dumbledore chuckled. “One cannot hope to control the wind, my boy.”

Harry’s cacodaemoniacal grin stretched almost too far to be human. “I’m not talking to the wind,” he said smugly, staring at someplace behind Dumbledore.

Dumbledore and the other older adults turned to look at where Harry was looking, yet saw nothing indicative of anything unusual. They turned back to find the three experienced dreamers talking without fear to a terrifying gigantic black thing vaguely resemblant of a bird, yet larger than an elephant and with a horse-like head, membranous dragon-like wings, and smooth snake-like scales. They knew not how the three cosmic beings understood the sounds that emerged from the shantak bird’s beak, yet they did, and whatever language the trio spoke to it they knew not either. It was no language a human could ever attempt to speak. In that moment, the fact that those three truly were not fully human, if at all, became evident. Harry reached up and scratched behind the thing’s ear, then headed back over to them.

“We can’t go with you to Mnar,” he told them factfully, no emotion indicative of how he felt towards that.

Lupin raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. “Oh? And why not?” He did not seem to notice how the other four-- all full-humans-- had yet to come out of the stupor of awe and fear the appearance of the bird had brought.

Draco answered this. “Apparently, Bokrog and Nodens made some sort of pact. Therefore, the Ibians, and by extension all the humans there that they now rule, are bent on purging any and all hint of cosmic beings from their land. The moment we step foot there, we’re doomed. It’s only safe for full-humans here.”

The ship captain appeared. “I am not taking humans there alone.”

“Well, I’m not fully human, as you’ve said before,” Lupin pointed out.

“Remus, you can’t go either,” Harry told him gently. “All so-called ‘dark creatures’, werewolves included, bear traces of what we’ve been calling cosmic magic. Hence the ‘dark’ monicker, seeing as humans refuse to see the difference,” the last but was contained much virulence, giving a dark air of unknown emotion to his aura.

“Hey, no need to go all contemptuous, Harry,” Draco said, putting his hand on his boyfriend’s shoulder.

“What do you mean?” Harry asked in confusion. “Er. Have any of the others been listening to us?” he gestured towards the humans.

“I think they’re trying to, but the bird is frightening them,” Luna explained simply. “Mister shantak bird, would you mind resting on the other side of the ship? Thank you.”

The bird let out a caw and hurried to the other end of the ship, which allowed the humans to regain their composure. The situation was explained to them, and after much arguing-- a good portion by Sirius, who did not want to be separated from Harry or Remus-- the humans realized that it was either send only them to go or not go at all, so it was agreed to send the humans to investigate Mnar while the other four look elsewhere. The White Ship agreed very reluctantly to bring the four humans there alone, only acquiescing once Harry made a show of threatening to cause them much pain if they even thought of trying to convince the ship to go somewhere dangerous to it. Harry and Draco helped Lupin and Luna onto the Shantak bird, then settled into their laps in cat-form, joined by Selardi and Mrs Norris. The bird took off, Remus holding onto it for dear life and Luna with her hands up letting her hair blow around her despite the bird’s scales being very slippery. The shantak looped around, grabbing Sirius around the waist with a monstrous talon before swooping off towards an undetermined location.

 

*******

 

“Ugh, that was painful,” Sirius grumbled, lying on the ground where the bird had left him. “Why couldn’t I have just passed out? Being dangled in the air for hours is not fun!”

“Actually, it was only twenty minutes,” Harry pointed out, chuckling, whispering something to the shantak before it flew off.

“Only! You try twenty minutes being dangled by your waist a hundred meters up!”

“I wonder why the bird did that, though,” Remus mused, helping Sirius up. He glanced around. “We’re by Ulthar again, aren’t we?” He received nods of confirmation.

“I guess it just knew I’d rather much prefer being with you lot rather than Snivellus and the uptights.”

“I wonder…” he turned to Harry, Luna, and Draco. “Would any of you three happen to have had anything to do with this?”

“No, but we’ll need to send you back to Earth,” Luna apologized. “There’s things we must do alone now.”

Sirius and Remus looked at the trio in confusion. “Do alone? What could you possibly need to do alone?” Sirius asked.

“Not to mention, how do you plan to send us back?” Lupin added. “I thought either the White Ship had to take us or we have to die to return our consciousnesses to our bodies… You don’t plan to…?” He looked slightly scared, as if they’d actually consider such.

Draco rolled his eyes. “Like we would resort to that. One of our cosmic ability things is that we can send those here in dream-form home.” He and Harry stepped forwards before the new dreamers could answer, placing their hands on their foreheads, and the two vanished. They did the same for Mrs Norris, at her request.

 

*******

 

Harry, Luna, Draco, and Selardi returned not ten minutes later, while Sirius and Lupin were still trying to collect their bearings.

“How much of it do you remember?” Harry asked the two almost immediately.

“Not a lot,” Sirius admitted. “As soon as I woke, I recalled it all, but it’s been fading fast.

“It seems I remember quite a bit more though,” Remus divulged. “You said that might happen due to my werewolf nature, correct?”

Draco collapsed into a chair, wincing while clutching his leg. “Yes, most likely. We’ll have to be there when the other three wake, to learn what happened in Mnar before they forget.” 

“Draco! You’re injured!” Sirius darted up to the boy. “What happened? Is there anything we can do to help?”

Draco waived his hand, looking bored. “I’ll be fine. It’ll be healed in a few hours; vampire, remember?”

“Right… What did you do after sending us home? It must have been dangerous, if you got hurt.” Sirius looked highly worried.

“The cats needed some help,” Luna said simply.

Draco fleshed out Luna’s incomplete explanation. “The war with the zoogs escalated; we had to intervene.” 

Remus looked incredulous. “We’re in the middle of a war here, which we were on a mission for, yet you left it to go help in a different one?”

Harry growled in annoyance. “They needed our help more at the time.”

“Why do you spend so much time there?” Sirius unexpectedly asked quietly. “Do you not like it here?”

Harry shifted uncomfortably. “Well… I do like it here, I do. Especially here with you two. But all the pressure… you’ve noticed how I’ve been a bit better this year with coping, right? You’ve mentioned it. It’s because we go there so often. Less time dealing with all the crap here comparatively. Plus, there’s no craving for blood when we’re there-- I don’t have to worry about accidentally attacking a human… not that I ever would, it’s just that I worry about it a lot. There there’s no need to worry.”

Remus looked at them with compassion. “I understand. If I could escape the wolf instincts completely during the full moon, I would take the chance instantly.”

“Come to think of it, the moons there were always full, yet didn’t affect you,” Sirius pointed out.

A thoughtful expression formed upon Draco’s face. “You know, perhaps we could try taking you there on full moons here, see if it makes a difference…”

“But I can’t sleep when in my wolf form.”

“Doesn’t matter; I can apparate you there,” Harry informed the wolf. “You’re not fully human, so it’s not too much of a strain.” Although, technically humans didn’t cause strain either now; but if everyone learned that, they’d all be begging to go, and he still could only take one at a time anyway.

“But then what do I do on those nights?” Sirius wondered forlornly.

“The White Ship let you on before; surely it will again, providing you’re with us.”

Sirius’s eyes lit up. “Really? That sounds wonderful!”

“But, why is it the White Ship dislikes humans so much?” Lupin wondered.

“You know how it has an injured spar, right?” Harry replied. “Well, it befriended a human once, moreso than it had with other humans, and because of that the human was able to convince it to go to a place it knew was dangerous. The human also knew it was dangerous, as the ship had warned him of it many times, but he was bent upon going, so the ship gave in. They never made it-- the ship was injured, and the human was expelled from the Dreamlands. Other humans before him had requested the ship go to such places as well, stubborn about it, thus the ship swore off humans.”

“But it’s okay with all other creatures?”

“Yes and no… it allows species the Great Ones and Outer Gods favor, mostly. The ship trusts them. Also, immortal beings-- according to the ship, they’re less impatient and more willing to accept that some things cannot be done or must wait for the future. Not sure why it thinks such. Oh, and cats too. Always cats.”

“About that. What is the obsession with cats over there?” Sirius questioned. “And why do they like you so much?”

Harry looked at Sirius as though he were asking if the sky was blue. “Because they’re cats.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: How did the humans' quest go? Did they find Voldemort? Then, an unexpected confrontation-- or is it?
> 
>  
> 
> I apologize, but I'm going to be very busy over the next few days, thus won't be able to post again until this weekend, especially since I'm still working on the upcoming chapters-- up until now they'd mostly been finished a while before the time of their posting so I just had to edit them, but now I'm again more or less doing them. 
> 
> There will be at least four more chapters, though could be more. I am debating adding one where they take Lupin and Sirius during the full moon; or, maybe I'll just make it a separate ficlet like I did with Ron and Neville teaching. I'm undecided on that.


	25. Mnar's Battle and Parkinson's Demand

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A shorter chapter. I'll post another later tonight.

“They’re waking up now,” Luna announced.

She, Draco, Harry, Sirius, and Remus all gathered into the room they’d set Snape, Dumbledore, and McGonagall in, each on a conjured twin-sized bed. Remus and Sirius had used their own room, naturally. They could have given the others their own individual ones, but they decided it’d be better to not be alone. McGonagall and Snape woke-- Dumbledore did not. That meant…

“You two died in there, then?” Draco asked. “What happened? If Dumbledore’s fighting something alone, maybe we should go help.”

McGonagall looked at the them peculiarly. “Albus didn’t wake earlier? He’s the one that died, not us…” She turned to examine Dumbledore.

“I’m sorry, but this can be discussed later; we need you to tell us everything that happened in Mnar before you forget it. Like a dream, it goes away quickly, but you can remember if you review it quickly enough,” Remus explained.

“Yes, of course,” Snape said. “We went to a port city, called… er…”

“Thraa,” McGonagall supplied.

“Yes. There were mostly human there, but some weird green amphibian things too. They said a snake-man had arrived, speaking very highly of him. He did not attack them. They told him of the one they worshipped, Bokrog, saying there was an idol of him in Ilarnek, which is where he headed. So we went there, passing through another city, Kateron--”

“Kadatheron.”

“Yes, that, and there were even more of the amphibian people. They did not seem to like us very much, or humans in general. Finally we arrived at Ilarnek, and looked at the idol, a lizard-like thing. The priests there told us a story of an ancient land called Sarnoth, how the city had angered him by killing the people of Ib-- the amphibian things-- and thus he destroyed it after a thousand years of them worshipping other gods. Since then Mnar has worshipped that thing. Apparently, the Dark Lord wished to seek him out.”

“And he found him,” McGonagall continued sadly. “We went to the site Sarnath had been, yet there was only swamp, no ruins. But Voldemort was there, along with the lizard-god and some of the Ibians, as well as these absolutely horrifying creatures, pure black with no face and grotesque wings--”

“Night-gaunts,” Harry explained.

“Let her finish; explain semantics later,” Draco hissed.

“They attacked. We fought, and were making good progress on escape-- then Snape was ordered by Voldemort to fight with him.”

“I refused, naturally. So my cover is blown.”

“Right. Well, we were actually making somewhat okay progress-- there were not that many there, and Voldemort seemed to prefer watching. Then out of nowhere came an old not-quite-a-man with white hair and grey beard yet was clearly amazingly strong who rode on a giant seashell pulled by a beast of no description. He attacked Albus, who vanished-- presumably forced back to here.”

“Sounds like Nodens… How did you escape?” Harry asked. 

“A white dragon flew in and began attacking,” McGonagall began.

“Oh! Shaurash-Ho got our message, then! We weren’t sure if the shantak would find him.”

“Then that bird-thing you flew off on,” Snape continued, “showed up and grabbed us with its talons, bringing us back to the ship.”

Draco raised its eyebrows. “Really? The shantak did? That’s amazing. Shantaks are usually terrified of night-gaunts; I’d have thought it’d just deliver the message and leave.”

“Someone must have told it to intervene,” Luna mused. “Only the Great Ones or Outer Gods can get the birds to do things they don’t want to.”

“There were more of them arriving as we left, attacking the night-gaunts and ibians,” McGonagall noted.

Harry gasped. “That’s… That means… Merlin…” 

“What does that mean?” Remus asked.

“One bird could be seen as an anomaly; a whole horde, though, is clearly intentional,” Draco explained. “Thus, the Outer Gods, and by extension the Old Ones, have essentially declared open war on the Old Gods, which Nodens and Bokrog are,” Draco explained. “Most likely, neither group will actually be attacking each other, rather sending their servants instead, like you saw, but if they do start fighting each other…”

“The Great Ones could have sent the shantaks though,” Luna pointed out. “Maybe my great-grandmother.”

“Still, they serve the Outer Gods,” Harry pointed out.

Sirius let out a long whistle. “What have we gotten ourselves into?”

“Well, they can’t leave that place, can they?” McGonagall directed the question towards the trio of dreamers.

“I’m not sure,” Harry admitted. “Typically, no, the birds and night-gaunts and whatnot are all bound to the Dreamlands. There’s some points in the Enchanted Forest that blend slightly with Earth, allowing them out slightly, but they can’t venture very far out, and generally the zoogs are the ones who do. Otherwise, they can’t normally leave.”

“However,” Draco continued, “There are, theoretically, rituals that can summon things from there, though it’s unknown if they’ve been used. The Necronomicon has some. Although they’re for specific Old Ones, not the general creatures.”

“Come to think of it, how did Voldemort even get there?” Sirius mused. “He deliberately went, and stayed there for a long time. I can’t see him pumping himself full of potions to do so. Did he find a gate?”

Harry bit his lip. “Well, there actually is another way to get there…”

The humans and werewolf set their eyes on Harry. “And you failed to tell us this earlier, why?” Snape drawled.

“Because it’s a really dark ritual that requires living sacrifices to create a temporary gate. We didn’t say anything because of course we weren’t going to do that! But Voldemort? He’d definitely do it.”

“I see.” McGonagall pursed her lips. “Well, there is a more pressing matter at hand, you know.” She gestured to Dumbledore.

“I’ll take a look,” Harry volunteered, putting his hand on Dumbledore’s forehead. After five or so minutes, he pulled back, a forlorn expression on his face. “His consciousness isn’t there. It must be somewhere in the Dreamlands still, or between here and there… but it isn’t here. I- I don’t know what to do about it. It must be because the White Ship transported him, and not the dream-steps… or maybe it was because of how he was killed, who it was by... It- it’s possible that- that there isn’t anything that can be done; we’ve read almost everything we can on the Dreamlands already, and never saw anything about such…”

“We can see if King Kuranes knows anything,” Luna suggested. “He’s been there for centuries, and both Serannian and Celephaïs have many extensive libraries.”

“Yes! That’s brilliant, Luna!” Draco cheered, grabbing her and apparating, Harry shortly following, to everyone else’s surprise.

A few hours later, the three returned, exhausted looks upon their faces. They had found nothing. Kuranes, a dreamer so experienced that he had been to the star-gulfs and back, and managed to stay in the Dreamlands even after his earthly body had died, had no knowledge of such ever happening. Ancient magic had been performed to attempt to locate Dumbledore’s consciousness, but to no avail. It simply had been lost somewhere in the deep chasms of time and space. The trio even had tried speaking to Azathoth, yet not even he knew of such an occurrence.

The only thing that could be done in the end was leave Dumbledore at St. Mungo’s, hoping that his condition could be spontaneously cured, that it was something similar to Ginny’s where he’d ultimately be the one to pull himself out-- if anyone could, Dumbledore could.

 

*******

 

The waves of whispers in Great Hall the first day back to classes-- after learning that McGonagall would be serving as Headmistress for the foreseeable future-- were nearly deafening to Harry. Usually he could endure the noise, but he’d been such a wreck in the two days since Dumbledore entered the coma that his concentration was shot. He just wanted a drink. Or some weed. Or nyx. Or to escape into either his cat or snake form for a while, maybe forever. Or to return to the Dreamlands and just stay there forever… no, he couldn’t do that. He had friends here, and things he wanted to do here. He couldn’t just let everything go. Although, it wouldn’t be everything-- Draco would go with him, and Luna too probably.

As everyone went off to their various classes, Harry headed outside with Neville and Ron-- the three of them had a free period. It had been a while since he had hung out with just the two of them, Harry reflected. They planned to study by the lake, as it was a nice sunny day. This time, Harry had remembered his sunscreen spell.

Halfway to the lake, Harry became aware that someone was definitely following them. They were by far not the only students who headed outside, so he’d paid it no initial attention assuming walking in the same direction was a coincidence, but they were far enough away now that it was no coincidence anymore. And this particular person had been awfully nosy lately. He signaled Ron and Neville to stop, then turned around. “Parkinson,” he acknowledged flatly.

“Potter.”

“What do you want?”

“Well, I’ve noticed some things lately… or should I say, for a while now…” Parkinson ‘s voice couldn’t be any snootier.

“Yeah? And what exactly have you noticed?” Harry crossed his arms and sneered. He had a feeling he knew. She’d been suspicious of him, maybe Draco too, for a while now, all stemming from that stupid stunning spell of hers that had bounced off him fifth year. He wasn’t worried though.

“Well…” Parkinson seemed a little nervous now, seeing his confidence and the fact that he, though small himself, was backed up by two fairly strong boys-- one very tall with quidditch muscles, the other not quite as tall yet heavier with muscles built up by avid gardening and herbology work-- both who currently looked as though they’d be ready to attack at Harry’s command.

“Well, what?”

Parkinson took a deep breath and stood straighter, trying to regain her own air of confidence. “My stunning spells bounced off you in fifth year. You’ve been conspicuously absent from defense classes involving practicing things on each other. You barely eat when in the Great Hall, and when you do it’s all meat. I saw Snape giving you potion vials last year, too.” She stopped there.

“Okay. Your point?”

“I want to know exactly what you are.”

Harry raised an eyebrow. “‘What’ I am? What do you mean by that?”

“Well, you’re obviously some type of half-breed.”

“Uh-huh. So, you confront me alone about it, with no one else around, when I have two of my best friends with me?”

“W-well…” Her voice began to falter, but she caught herself. “I know you won’t attack me. You’re Harry Potter, a noble Gryffindor. The Savior. You wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

Harry let out a laugh. “Are you so sure about that?” He magicked away his retainer and contacts, then grinned at her as evilly as he could manage.

Parkinson let out a gasp, and her eyes widened like saucers. To her credit though, she managed to not scream or run. Her aura showed clear surprise-- whatever type of creature she’d expected, vampire was not it. “Y-you-- you’re--”

“Still think I wouldn’t hurt a fly?”

“But… you’re lying! There’s no way Dumbledore would let you stay if you actually are a v-vampire!”

“Really? You’re so sure about that? He employed a werewolf, half-giant, and centaur. Why would a couple vampire students be different? Besides, as you said, I am the ‘Savior’.”

“A ‘couple’ of students?” Pany tried to sneer with confidence. “So Draco is, too! I knew there was a reason he suddenly shunned me in exchange for you! I bet you turned him, didn’t you?”

Harry rolled his eyes. “Actually, he turned me. I do admire your ability to remain somewhat calm though; anyone else would have high-tailed it out of here. Not sure if that makes you brave, stubborn, or stupid. Probably all three.”

“You dare insult me, Potter!” Parkinson snapped.

“Insult? No. I merely speak the truth. I’ll be nice, though-- go scurry away and don’t say a word to anyone. If you don’t, you’re going to regret not doing this in a less secluded area.”

“Why, you!” Parkinson threw her fist towards Harry. The punch never landed; Harry grabbed her wrist before it could. “Hey! Let go of me, you dirty beast! When the Prophet gets word--”

Harry slammed her to the ground, and he leaned in close to her face, fangs bared. “Do not call me a beast,” he growled. “And the Prophet will not be hearing about this.”

Parkinson whimpered in pain, but was too terrified to scream.

Ron put his hand on Harry’s shoulder. “Hey, mate, be careful; don’t want to actually hurt her. Well, not too bad, anyway.”

Harry stood up. He was actually only a little miffed; the rage had been for show. “Now, what should I do with you?” He sneered menacingly at Parkinson. “Should I risk letting you go with a threat, or do something a bit more permanent…?”

Parkinson squeaked and scrambled up, starting to run. Harry let her for a bit, then dashed in front of her with inhuman speed. She turned around and began to run the other way, crashing right into Neville. Harry told him and Ron to hold her, and they each grabbed an arm while Harry strode right up to her, standing close. 

Parkinson’s eyes focused in horror on Harry’s fangs. “P-please,” she sputtered. “Please, don’t hurt me… I’ll be good… I won’t go to the papers, o-or tell anyone...”

She was lying of course, Harry was well aware, and thus spoke in his commanding voice. “You will not tell anyone that Draco and I are anything other than fully human. You will not hint at it, or leave clues for others, or go to the papers, or do anything whatsoever that could cause someone to find out what we are. Understand?”

Parkinson’s eyes were slightly glazed over. “I understand,” she said flatly.

“Good. Now go back to the castle, and if anyone asks, tell them you were merely taking a walk. Do not ever mention this conversation or that you met us here to anyone. Now, go.”

Neville and Ron released Parkinson, who ran back to the castle, holding her bruised and most-likely-sprained wrist, not saying a word.

“You okay, Harry?” asked Neville cautiously.

Harry put his retainer and contacts back and smiled. “Yeah, more or less. Just slightly fatigued, and my stomach hurts-- I think I got a little carried away.”

“Yeah, just a little,” Ron said faintly. “Remind me to never get on your bad side.”

“Sorry. I didn’t want to scare you two…” Harry said sheepishly. “You know that was mostly all an act, right?”

“Mostly?”

“I really don’t like people calling me, or any sentient creature, a ‘beast’. Anyway, I knew she’d confront one of us eventually. She’s much too nosy, and remembers much too much. She’s suspected for a while, ever since the first Defense class this year when Kingsley mentioned that some spells bounce off of creatures.” Harry laughed a little. “Though I’m pretty sure she did not expect something like a vampire!”

“Speaking of Defense class, we should probably start heading there now,” Neville pointed out.

“Bloody hell. Already?” Ron sighed. “Hermione is going to kill me; I promised her I’d get the transfiguration essay done this morning!”

 

*******

 

“Harry? Why’s Pansy seem terrified of us?” Draco quietly asked during Defense class, while Kingsley was lecturing about their upcoming NEWTs.

“Er, well, it’s a long story,” Harry replied. “I’ll tell you in full later, but basically, when Ron, Neville, and I were outside during our free period, she confronted me, asking what I was. She was persistent, so I gave her a show, which properly terrified her, then commanded her not to ever tell anyone about what we are or the confrontation.”

Draco raised an eyebrow. “Excessive, yet effective. You covered all the bases? Made sure she can’t hint at it?”

“Yep. She can’t say or do anything that could lead to someone knowing we are anything other than human.”

“Good… er. She’s nursing her wrist, did you…?”

“She tried to punch me, and I grabbed it.”

“I see. In that case, perfectly justified.”

“Harry, Draco, I’d appreciate it if you did not have private conversations during my class,” Kingsley called loudly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Luna has a new obsession, an Order meeting, the door to the sealed Grimmauld Place door is opened, and Lupin is brought to the Dreamlands during the full moon-- will that help avoid the werewolf effect?


	26. Pikachu, Spellbooks, and the Full Moon

“Luna, what the bloody hell are you wearing?” Ron burst, as they gathered for breakfast.

Luna had on a bright yellow hooded sweatshirt over her robes, unzipped but hood on. Such garb wouldn’t be extremely unusual for Luna, but this one was downright strange. In addition to the garring color, it had two thick brown stripes on back, pointed black-tipped rabbit-like ears on the hood, and a lightning-bolt tail.

“Shiki brought it back from Japan for me,” Luna exclaimed. “It’s based on a character called ‘pikachu’. Its video game and cartoon are both extremely popular there, so much that they’re making an english translation!”

“They have a video game and cartoon based on… that?” Draco asked skeptically.

“No, it’s not based only on pikachu! There’s over a hundred different Pokemon, all with different powers, and they fight each other. Look, she also got me some trading cards with different ones, too. You can play a game with them, but you need more cards to do that. My favorite is the pink ball one called Purin. It sings people to sleep.” She passed around the cards, a total of about twenty in all.

“What’s this one called?” Neville asked, holding up a card showing what appeared to be a ball of vines with eyes and red boots. 

Luna looked at the card in concentration. “Monjara.” 

“When did you learn Japanese?” Harry asked in surprise.

“Oh, I only know the letters. Shiki taught me. She said the names of them are on top there. On the bottom are attacks you can use to battle, if you have enough to play. They sell the cards in small packs, and you collect and trade them to build a personalized deck to fight other peoples’ decks! It’s all the rage there.”

Draco took the card from Neville. “Let’s see… it says it knows attacks called ‘bind’ and ‘poison-powder’.”

“So basically, a cute version of the venomous tentacula,” Blaise joked.

“Oh! This card is shiny!” Harry proclaimed. “It looks like the thunderbird, but yellow. It knows attacks called ‘thunder’ and ‘10-megavolts’.”

Hermione smiled. “It’s like you’re all little kids again,” she teased. “But we do have class now, so you’ll have to put the toys away.”

“You don’t like the Pokemon?” Luna asked with doe-eyes.

“What? No, I do! It’s just that, well, we have class now. With a real venomous tentacula to attend to. Well, some of us do.” 

Everyone quickly gathered their things and headed to their respective classes. The seventh-year Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs had Herbology together that morning, whereas the Slytherins and Ravenclaws had Charms. Luna had History-- for some reason she actually liked Binns’s class, though one wouldn't think such from the way her notebook was covered in doodles rather than actual notes.

“So, how’d you feel about that essay?” Hermione asked, as she, Harry, Ron, and Neville headed to Herbology. “I felt it was rather short for something being used as NEWT prep, myself.”

Ron snorted. “Only you would complain about an assigned essay length being too short. That’s a relief, if you ask me. We’re swamped with so much for our other classes, after all.”

“Are we?” Harry asked, surprised. “I hadn’t really noticed…”

“Yeah, well, not all of us can do all our work at 3am like you can.”

 

*******

 

McGonagall had not only taken over as the Headmistress, but also as the leader for the Order of the Phoenix. Needless to say, the Order members were completely shocked at the news of Dumbledore’s condition. Of course, the press and Ministry simply thought he was ill-- which was, in a way, somewhat true. Some of the Order members had been researching similar happenings and ways to correct it, but thus far it all required at least knowing where the consciousness was, which was the one thing they didn’t know. 

“Pay attention,” Draco whispered to Harry, nudging him with his elbow.

“I am paying attention,” Harry muttered distractedly, tickling the chin of the purring Selardi on his lap.

“Sure you are. What did Snape just say?”

“He was just explaining about what happened in the Dreamlands.”

“No, actually. He switched topics. He said Voldemort’s back on Earth, gathering books on summoning magic,” Draco explained. 

Somehow, Voldemort still trusted Snape, despite his blatant defiance of the order to fight with him. Apparently he hadn’t known that death there merely woke you up if going in your sleep, thus accepted that Snape’s refusal had been necessary in order to remain a spy. Harry suspected only Snape could get away with such.

After the meeting ended and people left, Harry and Draco were left with Sirius, Luna, Remus, and Snape.

“Why are you still here?” Sirius asked Snape, kinder than he used to. Travelling on a ship for days with someone and drinking with them tends to lend towards a draining of animosity. Of course, they still didn’t like each other, but at least now they weren’t as snappy or rude, thus less likely to jump into an argument with everything.

“There’s something we need to discuss, though we ought to wait for Minerva to return from the restroom.”

“No need to wait! I’m here!” McGonagall called, returning to the entrance chamber, where they were gathered. “We were wondering if perhaps Severus could borrow a book from your library.”

Sirius raised an eyebrow. “Really? Why?”

Snape answered that. “As I said during the meeting, the Dark Lord desires information on summoning rituals-- most of which are dark. He has asked me to see if any books on such are here. If I do not return with at least one, two if possible, it might be suspicious, as the Black family is known to have a significant collection of dark books.”

“What! No! You can’t just give him information like that! He probably wants to summon those things here!”

“Precisely,” McGonagall agreed. “However, he has not told his followers of that, only that he wants summoning information. Thus, we must merely find books that are more benign, although still rare enough and with powerful enough magic to make it seem like they aren’t intentionally useless.”

“Then should we try to get into the sealed room again?” Remus asked. “That’s probably where the darker ritual books are.”

Draco and Harry looked at each other with trepidation. They’d removed a fair amount of books already, reading them in their spare time, and had no returned any… which, come to think of it, probably wasn’t so great an idea, as that meant they were lying around in either their dorms or lounge when those types of books should really be carefully kept track of.

“But not even Dumbledore could unseal it,” Draco pointed out innocently.

“Exactly,” added Harry. “Guess we’ll have to see what’s in the main library.”

“There’s nothing of that sort in the main library,” Sirius informed. “I’ve been through it numerous times. All the darker texts are in that sealed private offshoot.”

“You sure there won’t be any elsewhere?” McGonagall asked.

“Yeah. I spent two and a half years cooped up in here-- I’ve been through that entire library. Dark summoning rituals are not there-- and as they’re definitely illegal they would undoubtedly be locked away.”

So the group headed to the library and the unassuming small door in the back. Harry, Luna, and Draco stayed back as the older adults tried to unlock it, again to no avail.

“We need a professional cursebreaker, I think,” McGonagall decided. 

“Bill is one,” Remus recalled. “I’m sure he’d do it. I’ll see if he can floo back over.”

 

*******

 

“Right, that should do it,” Bill declared an hour later. “It was awfully tough to crack; layers upon layers of protections, some rather nasty. More so than typical for secret library rooms.” He had even had to return home briefly to pick up various tools to help.

“Well, my mother was somewhat known for that,” Sirius said. “As many of you know from helping clean this place a few years back.”

“Well, let’s get to it, then,” Remus decided, twisting the door’s handle with apprehension. It opened easily, and all but Harry and Draco entered.

The room resembled an office. A desk sat to one side, and bookshelves lined the walls. Some shelves had odd-looking clearly-dark objects on them, but most had books-- though a number of the shelves with books had gaps in them, and some books lay on the desk as well. Snape cast the dark-object detection spell, announcing that essentially every object on those shelves, and some in the desk, were dark, as expected.

McGonagall walked to a gap in the shelf and felt it with a hand. “There’s barely any dust here compared to everywhere else. Something’s been recently removed.”

“Looks like the vent grate fell off, too.” Remus gestured to the wall. He then sniffed the air, and frowned. “Sirius, could you go into dog-form, and tell me if you smell anything?”

Sirius complied. He was quite angry when he changed back to human. “Harry! Draco! Get over here!”

Harry played coy as he edged into the room. “Yes? What is it?”

“I specifically told you not to go in here! Yet you clearly have been! You even promised.”

“Actually, we promised not to attempt to unseal the door,” Draco pointed out. “Which we didn’t.”

“A Slytherin and Gryffindor make a formidable couple,” Snape mused. “Next time, I suggest being more thorough when wording such a promise.”

“So,” Remus sighed in exasperation. He was more disappointed than angry-- in retrospect he realized they should have seen this coming. “Where are the books you took?”

“Uh. Hogwarts mostly,” Harry replied. “Dorm room, lounge, my trunk... some might be in my room upstairs or the one at the Weasley’s… and I think there’s some we left with the White Ship, as well.”

Snape raised an eyebrow. “Just how many have you taken, to have them scattered in so many places?” His tone was softer, more curious than angry.

“As the current Headmistress of Hogwarts,” McGonagall spoke up, voice stern, “I must insist you remove such tomes from the castle as soon as possible. In fact, the moment we return, you are to bring them to my office.”

“But we haven’t finished reading them,” Luna whined.

“You shouldn’t be reading them in the first place!” Sirius shouted. “These are dangerous books! Who knows what sorts of spells or curses they contain imbued in them? And their contents!” Sirius’s voice shifted to rather worried. “You haven’t actually used any of the magic in them, have you?”

“We would never use such,” Draco assured him.

“No, of course not. Just those in the Necronomicon,” Shape drawled.

“The WHAT?” Sirius boomed.

Harry winced and shifted behind him slightly-- a reflex from the past, when loud yelling resulted in very unpleasant results. Plus, of course, it was much louder to him and Draco, who winced slightly as well.

“Volume, Sirius!” Remus scolded.

Sirius growled, but quieted slightly. “Sorry. I forget some of you are extra sensitive to sound. But it is rather hard to keep my voice down after learning that the two boys who are practically my sons are dabbling with magic found in the bloody Necronomicon!”

“You knew we did though, right?” Harry said cautiously. “That ritual fifth year… but we didn’t know the books name, as the cover was damaged, and Snape destroyed it to break the ritual.”

“Oh, I see,” Sirius calmed slightly, then glared at Snape. “Was it really necessary to bring that up? Did you want to watch me get riled or something?”

“Oh, no,” Snape replied. “I assure you, they somehow acquired a second copy and have, in fact, been using it. They showed it to Dumbledore, but somehow he conveniently decided to ignore it.” Snape looked at Draco pointedly.

“Wasn’t me,” Draco claimed. “Nor Harry. And we didn’t use any of the other magic in it.”

“Then why have you not burned it, as you were instructed to do so multiple times?”

“Whyever would we do that?” Luna asked with wide-eyed surprise. “It’s a nice book. Very informative.”

“Oh! About that!” Harry remembered. “There’s rituals to go to the Dreamlands in it! Do you think perhaps that’s how the Dark Lord got there?”

“No, if he had the book he wouldn’t need to look for summoning rituals,” Luna pointed out. “As there’s already some there.”

“Yeah but those are just for the Old Ones,” Harry pointed out. “Not Dreamlands creatures like the Night Gaunts, which I’m pretty sure is what he wants to bring here, as they were fighting for him...”

“I am sure if he had such a tome he would be bragging about it to his followers,” Snape stated. “Now, those books that you took. Would any of them happen to be about ritual magic?”

“Yeah, but nothing about summoning…”

“You are certain? You read them all?”

“Cover-to-cover.” 

“Wait a second,” Sirius interrupted. “Again, the Necronomicon seems to have been glossed over.”

McGonagall frowned. “Hmm. Yes, it seems like it often gets forgotten about.”

“Yes, I wonder why.” Snape again looked pointedly at Draco and Harry.

“I swear, it’s really not us!” Draco defended, with annoyance. “It’s book itself. You want to hurt it, so it’s making you forget in order to defend itself.”

McGonagall narrowed her eyes. “Wouldn’t it have to be nearby to do that? Dark book or not, it surely cannot cause that effect over great distances.”

Shit. Harry looked over at Draco, unsure what to do. Draco, however, was looking at Harry the same way.

Sirius frowned, his voice chilly. “You mean to say, that you actually brought that evil book into this house?”

“Well, we take it everywhere, of course,” Luna informed him casually. “After all, it needs to be kept safe.”

“And it’s not evil,” Harry added quickly.

“So you have explained numerous times,” Snape said flatly. “Yet the evidence still says otherwise.”

“Well of course it does,” Harry growled, “When the ‘evidence’ is entirely subjective and incorrect. You humans-- mmph!”

Draco slung a hand over Harry’s mouth. “That’s enough. We talked about that. No more ranti-- ouch!” He pulled his hand away, some blood dripping from the fresh bite mark on his palm. “Okay, that was totally uncalled for!”

Harry just grinned playfully in response. “So, how about we find those books on summoning now?”

“Oh! Maybe we’ll find one that can help you figure out how you called your potion creatures to help fight at the battle last year!” Luna chimed. “Those died, but you’ve made more since then. Too bad the Ministry keeps taking them…”

Sirius raised an eyebrow. “Potion creatures?”

Harry sighed. “Really, Luna? Really?”

 

*******

 

“Are you ready?” Harry asked Remus. They were going to see if the effects of earth’s full moon could be skipped by going to the Dreamlands during that time.

“I am. But Sirius, Luna, you two should go sleep now, so the ship can meet you.”

“Why? Draco can just take me.” Luna seemed to have forgotten that Sirius and Remus had not been informed of Draco’s ability to apparate there himself, nor that he could take a second person. Luckily she hadn’t revealed they could take humans. “And Harry could probably take you both at once. He accidentally took Draco and Dumbledore together once, before Draco could do it on his own; since he’s more practiced now, it probably will be easier.” Well, so much for that.

“We were going to tell you eventually that I can apparate there now,” Draco quickly cut in. “We just didn’t want Dumbledore knowing, and couldn’t get time alone to tell you.”

“It’s okay. We learned that when you went back to the Dreamlands to look for a book after Dumbledore didn’t wake,” Remus pointed out.

“Wait, you can do take humans?” Sirius asked. “And more than one person? Why didn’t you tell us?”

“Well, we wanted to wait until we got you alone, like now,” Harry lied. “I did manage to take Blaise one time, but it’s tougher than a magical being. I don’t know about taking two at once, especially with one being a human. Yes, I did once accidentally take Draco and Dumbledore together-- not my fault, he grabbed on when he saw I was trying to leave-- but it took a big toll, so it might be better if I tried taking two part-humans though. However, Draco’s only been able to take Luna, so far-- a full-bodied human is a bit togher, due to the complete lack of cosmic magic.”

“You can do it,” Luna assured them. “Especially if Selardi helps, like she did when you first learned you could do it, Draco.”

“Meow!” Selardi agreed, while rubbing Draco’s ankles. Then she leapt onto Draco’s shoulder with ease, whispering something in his ear in cat-language.

“Right then. Brilliant.” Sirius smiled. “So, Draco will take me, and Harry will take Moony and Luna, correct?”

Draco grasped Harry’s hand. “Actually, Selardi says it’ll be better if we all grab onto each other and share the magic.” He moved his and Harry’s hands in front of them. “So if you all could put your hands in the middle…”

Sirius, Remus, and Luna joined them in a circle and reached into the middle, all their hands grasped together. Harry and Draco locked eyes, took a deep breath, allowed the magic to flow around them…

“Bloody Merlin. It actually worked!” gasped Draco.

“Not much of a confidence booster, there,” Sirius chuckled. “Er. You okay?” Draco had clutched his chest, bending over slightly. “And Harry, you too! What’s wrong?”

“Just took a bit out of us,” Harry muttered, hands pressed into his stomach. “The amulet and navel ring help when that occurs, but they burn when they do so.”

“Harry, did you and Draco go somewhere without me?” Luna asked with forlornness.

“What? Just the times we accidentally went, which I told you about. Why?”

“Because I’ve never been here before, and you never told me about this place.”

They took in their surroundings. They were on a snowy coastal road, deep cliffs ten meters away leading to churning violent waters. To the other side of the road lay flat ground, though whether of meadow or heath or desert they could not tell as it was covered in a deep layer of snow, much deeper than the road which must have been cleared, although a lighter layer of snow still dusted it-- Harry looked up, and a few tiny flakes melted on his glasses. Off in the distance, they could see an old fishing town.

“We’ve… never been here either,” Harry admitted. “The strain of taking all of you might have caused us to end up somewhere random again.”

“Are we even in the Dreamlands?” Draco asked suddenly.

“We have to be! Why wouldn’t we?”

“Because the moon and stars are wrong,” Luna said. Indeed, there was no dual gold and silver moons, rather a single red-orange one along the horizon.

“Wait. Are you saying we’re still on Earth?” Sirius asked. 

“No. The stars are wrong,” Luna said.

“And pretty sure we were not supposed to have a blood moon tonight, either,” Remus pointed out. 

“Wait. Moony, you’re not transformed!” Sirius cheered.

Remus looked down at himself in wonder. “You’re right! So… we’re not on Earth.”

“Well if we’re not on Earth, nor in the Dreamlands, then where the bloody hell are we?” Draco wondered. “And how did we get here?”

Harry swallowed nervously. “I suppose we’ll have to head to the town to find out.”

“Mrrrrow,” Selardi agreed. A contented look rested upon the cat’s face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Where are they? How did they get there? Why are they there?
> 
> The idea for this situation arose entirely unexpectedly less than an hour ago. So not even I know where it'll go-- only that it is based off of a specific short story of Lovecraft's I just read, titled "The Festival". Hence, the very ambiguous "next time", as not even I know what'll happen-- I'll write and post it tomorrow.


	27. The Boy and the Graveyard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> " We went out into the moonless and tortuous network of that incredibly ancient town; went out as the lights in the curtained windows disappeared one by one, and the Dog Star leered at the throng of cowled, cloaked figures that poured silently from every doorway and formed monstrous processions up this street and that, past the creaking signs and antediluvian gables, the thatched roofs and diamond-paned windows; threading precipitous lanes where decaying houses overlapped and crumbled together, gliding across open courts and churchyards where the bobbing lanthorns made eldritch drunken constellations."  
> \--H.P. Lovecraft, excerpt from "The Festival"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Loosely based upon the first part of "The Festival" by Lovecraft.
> 
> It is a shorter chapter, but it felt wrong to add anything more than just the one scene.

The group walked under the streetlights of the snowy town, which was quirky and quaint. The fishing town was full of wharves, bridges, parks, colonial-style houses, shops, churches, and more graveyards than one town should be allowed, scattered every which way along maze-like streets as if a child had been permitted to design the town’s layout. It was very quiet-- everyone seemed to be inside, as the windows were lit in many houses, wherein they saw on occasion a decorated tree or dinner parties, and wreaths and other Christmas decorations were displayed on doors and porches. 

“I think… it might be Christmas here,” Harry said in wonder.

“Don’t people usually put out lights for that though?” Draco asked.

“Perhaps they don’t exist here,” Luna suggested. “These streetlamps are very old. There are also few cars, and they are all very old.”

“Whoa. You’re right. This here is a Model-T,” Sirius said in wonder, examining a car parked on the side of the road. “As in, the first affordable car model-- from the early 1900s.” Sirius was a big geek when it came to muggle vehicles, though not as much so as Mr. Weasley.

“There’s another one, there.” Remus pointed to a house across the way, to the car parked in a slim driveway.

“Oh! There’s a candle in the window of that place!” Luna cheered. “Maybe we can ask them about where we are.”

“A candle? What’s a candle have to do with anything?” Sirius wondered.

“It’s a universal sign meaning ‘travellers welcome’,” Harry explained. “It’s not used as much in modern days, but was used in the past frequently, when there were often no inns around unless it was a larger city or town. It’s still used in the Dreamlands often.”

“But we’re not in the Dreamlands,” Remus reminded them.

“No, but if the town is modelled after the early 1900s, it most likely means the same thing.”

“Well, it’s worth a shot, at least,” Draco decided, leading them up to the house that seemed centuries older than the others on the street and sounding the ornate iron knocker.

The door creaked open, and an ancient-looking man stood there in a nightgown and slippers. “Welcome, travellers. You must be here for the festival… by your unusual dress, I take it you have travelled far to be here. Come in, relax; we won’t be leaving for another hour.”

The five looked at each other warily, but entered the house and followed the man to a large candle-lit room furnished as though it were from the seventeenth century, with high-backed chairs and a low table set around a cavernous fireplace wherein a large fire blazed. A spinning wheel sat in a corner, and old books lay on the table. He gestured them to sit, saying they could read whatever they wished, then left. A little old woman then entered the room, her dress matching the era of the room’s design, bringing them all tea and a plate of various scones before leaving again. A small child sat on the floor in the corner, curled up against the wall reading a book. On occasion he glanced at the visitors with curious eyes, but said nothing.

Draco prodded Harry, nodding his head towards the table with books. Harry’s gaze scanned them as his eyes widened. He looked through some of them; they were all very old books about witchcraft, a mix of muggle lore and legitimate spellbooks. Were these people here magic or muggle? Or, perhaps, muggles who dabbled in magic? Then, at the bottom, one particular book caught Harry’s eye, a thick leather-bound tome written in Latin which he recognized well. He smiled as he picked it up, flipping through it. Something seemed off, though; the book was thinner than it should be… yes, there were definitely some pages that were missing.

“What do you have there, Harry?” Sirius asked curiously.

“See for yourself.” Harry handed the book to Sirius, whom took one look at the name on the cover and yelped, dropping it.

“The hell is that here for?” Sirius hissed. “Don’t tell me they--”

“No, I don’t think so,” Harry replied quickly. “The books are a mix of things, though all related to magic-- specifically, muggle ideas of it, good and bad, with some spellbooks like this mixed in. I think they might be muggles with an interest in witchcraft… Luna, you might not want to read that one.”

“Why not? It’s interesting.”

“It’s a book about the evils of witchcraft that was used by the churches during the Salem trials in order to convince people they were justified,” Harry told her flatly.

“Why would they even have that?” Draco wondered. “You don’t think they…?”

“No, they just seem to have an interest, I think,” Harry mused. “Gathering everything they could find on witches. If they were against it, they wouldn’t have spellbooks and positive materials as well.”

“Hey, have you seen Selardi?” Draco wondered, looking around. “Oh.” Selardi was sitting next to the boy in the corner, who pet her head while remaining focused on his book.

“It is time,” the old man said, entering the room, now dressed. “You will need to wear these.” He handed them dark brown hooded cloaks of a thick warm material, perfect for the snowy weather outside. The man donned one himself, and the woman and boy did so as well. The boy never spoke; there was something eerie about him, though Selardi seemed content with the boy and they trusted her judgement.

The man escorted them outside, grabbing the Necronomicon on the way out, though luckily neither Sirius or Remus seemed to notice this. Why the group was actually following them, they did not know, but they didn’t really see anything else to do. As they walked down the snowy streets, people exited their own houses to join them. The humans, Sirius and even Remus included, seemed to almost be in a trance. Harry paid close attention to the boy, who walked next to the man and woman in front of the crowd. Something about him seemed familiar. Selardi still walked with him.

“Draco, you have our copy of the book with you, right?” Harry whispered. “Could I see it for a moment?”

Draco looked at Harry oddly. “Yes, but why now?” He took out a small bag from his pocket, which enlarged on his command, and drew the book out, handing it to Harry.

“I want to check something.” Harry leafed through the book until he found the page he needed, then bit his lip and handed it to Draco, pointing to a picture. A picture that had been absent from the copy the man held.

Draco growled slightly. “Bloody hell. You really think that’s him?”

“Well, why don’t we ask him?” Luna had been looking over Draco’s shoulder. She moved to walk to the boy, but Draco grabbed her arm. 

“Don’t,” the blonde hissed. “Not until we know what he’s playing at.”

“But what if it isn’t him?”

The boy quickly glanced at them, and Harry swore he caught a glimpse of an impossibly too-wide smile. But before he could say anything about it, he suddenly froze, letting the crowd move around him, noting the place they had just entered: one of the many graveyards of the town. What’s more was that in the dark of graveyard, without streetlamps, the cloaks all there wore with hoods drawn looked not the various shades of browns they were, but black. Harry’s heart began racing as he remembered another situation, years ago, where he had been in a large graveyard amongst those in black hooded cloaks, especially as he was now alone-- the two-dozen people, including his companions, had moved far onwards, towards the towering church at the other end of the lengthy graveyard. He turned to leave, then realized that he had apparently ended up in the center before he had noticed where they were. There was nowhere to run. He was trapped in the dark amongst endless rows of tombstones. Harry let out a single sob and sank to the ground, wrapping his arms around his knees, closing his eyes and shivering, but not from cold.

“Harry!” someone whispered, shaking his shoulder. “Hey, what’s wrong? What happened? I was talking to Luna, and then all of the sudden you were gone…”

Harry glanced up, then yelped and scurried backwards slightly, difficult to do when one is sitting.

“Hey, relax, Harry, it’s just me,” Draco said soothingly, removing the hood as he knelt down in front of Harry.

Harry calmed slightly as he realized it was just his boyfriend in front of him. “S-sorry…. hood… looks black…” he tried to explain, again wrapping his arms around his knees.

“The hood?” Draco glanced back to the throng of people, then realized. “Oh, crap. You’re right. Is that what made you freeze up?”

Harry opened his mouth to speak, then again noticed the tombstones surrounding them. He quickly lowered his head, shaking it slightly, unable to speak as he found drawing breath too difficult. He tried to shut it out, but kept seeing flashes of the scene that had played out the last time he was in such a graveyard… 

“No? Then wha-- oh. OH. Crap.” Draco stood up. “Harry, can you stand? I’ll help you get out of here.”

Harry looked up at Draco, pupils dilated, breathing rapidly-- though he required no air-- and heart racing, barely processing what his boyfriend had said through his panicked state.

“No? Okay, I’ll carry you, then. Is that okay?”

Harry looked at Draco blankly, taking a while to process, then nodded. Draco swept him up bridal-style, and Harry wrapped his arms around Draco’s neck and buried his head in his boyfriend’s chest as he was swiftly carried out of the graveyard.

“Hey, you’re okay now,” Draco said soothingly, placing Harry on a bench in the park across the street, facing away from the graveyard. He sat next to him, wrapping his arms tightly around the vampire, who again buried his head in his chest. Draco ran a hand through the dark hair instinctually, which always helped calm Harry. “You’re safe.” He kissed Harry’s head.

“S-sorry about that…” Harry muttered after a while, though didn’t move. “I d-didn’t mean to p-panic…”

“Shh. It’s okay. It happens. I should have realized before we went in.”

“But you didn’t know that would happen.”

“No, but you haven’t been to such a place since, well, you know. So it was inevitable it’d trigger some sort of flashback, really. But I entirely forgot about that.”

“But it’s been years. I thought I got over that…”

Draco sighed. “Does anyone really ‘get over’ something like that? It was a traumatic experience. No need to be ashamed about it still affecting you.”

“...I guess that’s true. Thank you.” He lifted his head and flashed a small smile at his boyfriend. What had he done to deserve someone so wonderful?

“Harry! Hey! What happened? You okay?” Sirius dashed over upon spotting them, placing his hands on Harry’s shoulders and looking at him worriedly. Remus, Luna, Selardi, and the boy followed at a walking pace.

Harry turned towards Sirius, untangling himself from Draco’s arms. “Yeah, I’m okay now. Sorry. I just… well…”

“Being in the graveyard brought back some buried memories,” Draco explained. “Exasperated by the fact that all the hooded cloaks look black in the darkness.”

“I apologize for that,” the child said, in a voice that seemed to form right in their minds, coming from everywhere yet nowhere at once, echoing with both high and low pitches. No wonder he hadn’t spoken before. “I had no intention of triggering anything painful. I merely wanted to have some fun with you, as it has been a while…”

“You got my cat in on it too, didn’t you?” Draco accused. “That’s why she offered to help, and suggested we all go at once.”

“If you wanted to visit, all you needed to do was ask,” Harry told the boy.

“Aww, but that wouldn’t be as fun!” The too-wide grin was joined by pitch-black eyes that sparkled with the galaxy itself. “I like surprising people.”

“Scaring them, you mean. Teasing and toying with them.”

“Well, yes, but not to the point it is traumatizing. If I knew graveyards were bothersome, I would have chosen a different aesthetic! Woods or something… wait, no, you hunt in the woods at night, that wouldn’t scare you… hm… perhaps creepy ruins…”

Draco snorted. “As long as there’s no night-gaunts like at the Oriab ones… wait a second. You’re not thinking of doing this again, are you?!”

The boy smiled wider, if possible. “Oh, please. Of course I am! We have millenia upon millenia together, after all.”

“Oh!” Luna clapped her hands together. “I’ve been meaning to ask you about that, Mister Nyarlathotep. I’ve asked Harry and Draco before, but they always say no, and I can’t hope that being injured in battle will force them, because everything always misses me. But, you had a hand in making vampires, really really long ago, right? So can you make me one, too?”

Sirius and Remus stared at Luna in shock, whereas Harry and Draco just sighed and put their faces in their hands.

“Hmmmm. Intriguing idea. Yet though true that I helped make vampires, I don’t have the ability to change others into them. Might I ask why you two are opposed, Harry, Draco?”

“Because we need blood to survive,” Draco informed him. “Neither of us want to subject her to that.”

“But I really don’t mind that,” Luna insisted. “Are you sure you can’t make me one?” She asked the Outer God.

“I am sure. However, perhaps I could make you into something else, something new… Of course, I’ll have to discuss such with Karakal…”

“Oh! I’m sure great-grandmother would approve. As long as I’m immortal. I don’t want Harry and Draco to be alone when everyone else gets old and dies.”

“You already will live a few centuries longer than a human, though, you are aware? They will not be alone right away.”

“But I’ll still die eventually, and they’ll be sad.”

“Luna, you don’t have to sacrifice your humanity for us,” Harry muttered, blushing a bit. “We’ll be fine.”

Luna looked at him determinately. “No, you won’t be.”

Draco rolled his eyes. “You really have a great way of encouraging people, Luna.”

“Thank you.”

“What would you do if I said no to helping you become immortal?” Nyarlathotep asked Luna curiously.

“Well, I could always stay in the Dreamlands like Kuranes did. But then I would be stuck there, and I would very much like to be on Earth as well. So I thought asking you nicely might work, and it has.”

The Outer God raised an eyebrow. “Oh? You are certain of that?”

“I am.”

“I see. You are quite the intriguing creature, you know. There are many ancestors of the Great Ones, yet you are quite unique even among them.”

“And that is exactly why you will help me become immortal,” Luna said matter-of-factly. “You really like creatures that are different, particularly unique ones.”

Nyarlathotep actually looked a little uncomfortable about being at the mercy of Luna’s candid insights. “Yes, I suppose that is true… well, then, I will take everyone back now.”

“Wait!” Lupin called. “What about the full…” Suddenly they were in Grimmauld place again, no sign of Nyarlathotep anywhere. “...moon. Aw, fuck.”

“Everyone, animagus forms, now!” Sirius called. Remus had taken Wolfsbane before that little excursion, just in case, but you could never be too careful.

Soon, a dog, wolf, jackalope, and three cats were happily romping around the old house together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Harry and Luna skip class to drink together; it goes just as well as you'd expect. Then, Luna finds something interesting, and an important development about Dumbledore...
> 
> Chapters will be a bit slower coming now, as the next one is only half-written and the rest aren't at all. I'll get the next one today, but then might have to post every other day rather than every day. There's only a few chapters left in theorey.


	28. Moon-Wine, the Diadem, and Evil Teddy-Bears

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long to get this done; I know I promised a second chapter to go up earlier today (yesterday? It's almost 2am here), but I admittingly got distracted. Hope you enjoy!

“Mmmm… Draco…” Harry moaned, pulling his boyfriend coser, as the blonde vampire dug his teeth into his neck while simultaneously squeezing his ass. They’d just returned to Hogwarts that night, all their friends having left to sleep already, which meant they had plenty of time to fool around… Harry gasped as Draco pressed his hips forwards.

“You like that, my little kitten?” Draco mumbled against Harry’s neck, licking up the blood.

“Yes…” Harry hissed. He grabbed Draco’s head to pull him into a deep kiss, then slid his hands down to lift Draco’s shirt off-- they were in muggle clothing, as they often were outside of classes and meals.

A bell chimed, indicating the lounge door had been opened-- they had added that feature after too many surprise encounters-- and the two jumped apart.

“Oh, I’m sorry for interrupting. You may continue,” Luna told them, placing a stack of books on the table. “I was just returning the dark books I borrowed. We’re supposed to return them to Grimmauld Place asap. I thought you were doing that tonight?”

“Er, yeah, we were…” Harry muttered.

“But you got distracted?”

“...yeah.”

“Okay. I’ll go gather the ones from your rooms then.” She left abruptly.

“Er. Continue?” Harry asked Draco.

“Mhmm… oh, wait. Doesn’t she need the new dorm passwords?”

Harry laughed. “She’s Luna. I don’t think she needs them; she’s sure gotten in the Gryffindor tower enough times without. So, where were we?” Harry stood close to Draco, staring into his eyes suggestively.

“I believe taking care of this little problem.” Draco placed his hand upon the bulge in Harry’s trousers and squeezed, causing his boyfriend to let out a surprised squeak that turned into a moan and arch back. Draco pushed him onto the couch, straddling Harry and pushing his hips down hard.

“Draco…” Harry moaned, sliding his hands under Draco’s shirt. “Please… I need it…”

“Need what?”

“Need you to fuck me…”

Neither noticed the bell sound again, nor the wide-eyed blonde-haired witch curl up in the armchair, blue eyes locked on the couple, a smile upon her face.

 

*******

 

Harry folded his arms on the breakfast table, resting his chin upon them. “It’s been two weeks since Dumbledore’s consciousness disappeared,” he muttered dejectedly. “Do you think he’ll ever return? Ginny, too, at that…”

“Relax, Harry. I’m sure it’ll all turn out fine,” Hermione assured him kindly.

“You don’t know that.”

“Hey. He’s gotten through worse,” Draco said, rubbing soothing circles into Harry’s back.

Neville joined the table then. “What’s got you down today?” he asked.

“Just the usual.” Harry waved a hand in dismissal and sat up. “It’s fine.

“So, I hear you two got a bit frisky last night?” Blaise asked as he too sat down next to them, Luna following.

“Oh? I wonder who told you that.” Draco glared at Luna. They had found she had been watching after the fact, although she’d fallen asleep sometime during-- it had been long past midnight, after all.

“It was quite wonderful…” the girl said dreamily. “Especially when you--”

“Okay, that’s enough, Luna!” Draco said loudly, drowning her out and garnering a snicker from Blaise.

“Oh, Blaise, how did you do on the Runes essay?” Hermione asked, changing the subject.

While the two chatted about their homework, Luna and Neville ate silently while Harry and Draco cuddled a little, Harry leaning on his boyfriend’s shoulder with Draco’s arm around his waist. Eventually, it was time for classes. Harry sighed. He had a free period next, so he’d be alone. Maybe he’d have a joint, or some firewhiskey. No, that wouldn’t be good to do before Defense class...

Slowly people funnelled out of the Great Hall, breakfast ending and classes beginning. Draco left for Muggle Studies, Hermione and Blaise for Runes, Ron hadn’t even come to breakfast as he’d been using the morning free periods to sleep in to Hermione’s disapproval, Neville went to help Sprout with some plants, and Luna had class as well. Ah, the bloody hell with it. He was going to get a drink-- no one would know, and if he just had one of a lighter thing like mead, he’d be fine for class.

As Harry headed towards the lounge, he noticed the sound of footfalls-- someone was following him. A sniff pinpointed the culprit without needing to turn to look. “What do you want, Luna?”

“Well, you look like you shouldn’t be alone right now,” she commented. 

“Why do you think that?”

“You have more grey clouds than usual. If you need a drinking partner, I will join you.”

Harry turned to the girl. “Don’t you have class?”

“I don’t very much feel like going.”

“So you’re going to skip?”

“Mmhm. I brought moon-wine back, we should drink that instead of firewhisky today.”

“Actually, I was just planning on something light, a beer or cider…”

“Aww, that’s no fun! Come on, have some moon-wine with me.”

“I don’t know Luna, I do have class after…”

“But will one glass really hurt?”

“Well… okay, fine. ONE glass.”

 

*******

 

“Oh, you have got to be kidding me!” Draco sighed at the sight he found upon opening the lounge door.

“Let me guess, you found Harry?” Blaise said dryly, crowded behind Draco along with Hermione, Ron, and Neville. They’d just finished Defense class, which they all had together with Harry, who had been conspicuously absent.

“Luna, too. Seems she also decided to skip classes. They’re both conked out.”

“We have to take them to Pomfrey,” Hermione said firmly, as they all entered the lounge. Harry-- in female form-- and Luna were indeed unconscious, piled on top of each other on the couch in a mess of limbs, thankfully clothed.

“Why?”

“Because I’m pretty sure two people finishing that many bottles in such a short time is highly dangerous, vampire and part-goddess notwithstanding.”

“Is it?” Blaise asked. “Those don’t look like firewhiskey bottles. They’re unmarked, even. For all we know, it could be beer.”

Draco picked up a bottle and sniffed it. His posture uncharacteristically wilted slightly. “Aww, crap. Looks like they somehow acquired moon-wine… I suppose Hermione’s right, we have little choice in the matter.”

“Moon-wine? What’s that?” Neville asked curiously.

“Dreamlands specialty. Very potent, and includes poppies as an ingredient.”

“Poppies? What’s wrong with poppies?” Ron asked in confusion, noting the other three humans’ looks of surprise.

“It’s an opiate. Has psychoactive effects,” Blaise informed the redhead. “It’s a drug,” he clarified when Ron still seemed confused.

“I must have told Luna a thousand times to limit it… she never listens,” Draco mumbled, then sighed. “I bet she encouraged Harry, too. He’s been very good about limiting himself lately, whenever she’s not there.” He strode over to untangle the two, then picked up his boyfriend-currently-girlfriend. “Blaise, get Luna.”

 

*******

 

“Feeling better?” someone asked, handing Harry his glasses as he woke up in the Hospital Wing with an intense headache. In his-- rather, her, female body, she realized suddenly. Why was she-- oh. Well, crap; she must have over imbibed. Why did she always listen to Luna? 

“Just a bit of a headache. Luna’s here too, isn’t she?” Harry asked Draco, who nodded, gesturing to the bed on the other side of her. “You’re upset,” Harry said quietly, face falling as she saw the cloud of hurt, worry, and slight anger around her boyfriend.

“Of course I’m upset!” Draco hissed. “Do I have to find you a babysitter every time you’re out of my sight? And that goes for Luna, too! I’m more pissed off at her, I think; I know you’d have controlled yourself if she hadn’t been there! Every single time you’re alone together, or with Blaise for that matter, something like this happens, and it’s been getting more frequent! You can’t let her encourage you; in fact, when she starts getting like that, it’d be a good idea for YOU to cut HER off!” His voice cracked, and he grabbed Harry’s hand, anger suddenly seeping away, face taking on a pained expression. “You were doing so much better. It kills me to see you going back to this.”

“You drink a lot too,” Harry muttered.

Draco was quiet for a moment, then spoke softly. “I know I do. I’m not saying stop drinking; just try harder to control it, please. I don’t want to find you passed out from it again…”

“I know. I don’t want to either. I’ll try harder, I promise… I really only planned to have one or two drinks, you know, of a light thing like beer or cider. Honestly. But then Luna followed me, saying she felt like skipping class, and brought out the moon-wine… I’m sorry. I did try to turn it down, but you know her. I shouldn’t have let her encourage me so much.”

Draco pulled Harry into a tight hug. “Good. Acknowledgement is the first step.” He drew back to look Harry in the eyes. “Let’s set a hard limit. No more than six drinks of hard liquor in one sitting, okay? Unless it’s moon-wine, then it’s three.”

“How about none?” McGonagall stood by the bed with her arms crossed, a serious expression on her face. When did she get there? Snape was there too… crap. Wait. How did they know who she was? None of them knew Harry could shift into a female body at will… well, guess they did now.

“We weren’t in public though,” Harry defended. “The rule says that as long as it's in private and you’re of age, it’s fine.”

“And as long as it doesn’t affect you during class,” she added. “Which it clearly did, seeing as you skipped class in order to imbibe.”

“Actually, I had a free period; I only missed Defense because I passed out. Luna’s the one who skipped intentionally.”

“And she will be punished accordingly, as soon as she wakes,” a squeaky voice said. Flitwick was standing next to McGonagall; he was so short they hadn’t noticed. Of course; he was the head of house for Luna. “A ban from any alcohol stronger than mead, I think, plus a week’s detention.”

“Actually, I plan to ban hard liquor from Hogwarts grounds entirely,” McGonagall stated. “This group is not the only one with problems; there’s been an increase of extreme incidents involving it, as well as an increase in underage drinking in general this year. Healer Strout suspects the events from last spring encouraged such. So the best thing to do is to remove the temptation entirely.”

“No! Come on, we’ll do better with control, promise,” Harry pleaded.

“I’m sorry, Mister-- sorry, Miss, Potter, but I have no choice; as I said, it’s a more widespread problem.”

“It’s alright, Harry,” Draco told him. “We can just go to the Dreamlands or Hogsmeade if we want some.”

McGonagall sighed. “I can’t stop you from that, but please, at least try to be sober while in the school. Now, let’s see if Miss Lovegood is awake… Miss Lovegood? Where did she go?”

 

*******

 

“There you are,” Harry sighed. “What were you doing? And what are you wearing?”

“Well, I went to hide the moon-wine, firewhiskey, potions, and muggle drugs, in case they tried to confiscate things. I went to the Room of Requirement, asking it to be the Room of Hidden Things, which has all the things people hide. I found this in there. It’s the Lost Diadem of Ravenclaw. I think it’s a horcrux.”

“Luna! If you think it’s a horcrux, why did you put it on?” Draco groaned. 

“Well I didn’t know at first. I only wanted to see if it increases wisdom, as the legends say it does. Instead it just makes my head feel fuzzy. At first it felt powerful, and its voice tried to talk to me, but then it panicked and now it’s trying to make itself small.”

“Wait. You’re saying the horcrux is… scared of you?” Harry asked, puzzled. 

“Why yes, that is a good way to put it.”

“That’s… interesting…” Draco mused. “Regardless, we need to destroy it. Let’s get the sword.”

Luna’s eyes widened. “No! I want to wear it more.”

Harry chuckled. “Well, sorry Luna, but we really need to destroy it asap.”

Luna backed up. “Can’t it wait? Just for a while.”

Draco raised an eyebrow. “It wouldn’t be that you actually can’t remove it, would it?”

“I can remove it.”

“Then take it off.”

“No.”

Draco made a grab for the diadem, but Luna ducked away-- right into Harry, who grabbed ahold of it. The diadem stayed firmly attached to Luna’s head.

Harry sighed. “Where’s Dumbledore when you need him…”

“Right here, my boy.”

The three spun to stare at Dumbledore. He appeared to be a ghost, though not quite. He was clearly translucent and floating, but he shimmered oddly, his image looking slightly fuzzy around the edges, and didn’t give off the air of chilliness ghosts exuded. 

“Er. You’re supposed to be unconscious at St. Mungo’s,” Harry pointed out.

“Ah, is that where my body went? I seem to have become separated from it. I can still tell I am alive, but it is rather strange, being a separated consciousness… Well, luckily, my apparition is intact! I will see you boys and Luna when I return, which I expect shall be in a few hours, as they are always dreadfully slow at processing discharges.” With that, Dumbledore vanished.

The three students looked at each other to confirm they’d all experienced the same thing, then agreed to go find McGonagall and Snape to let them know Dumbledore would apparently return soon.

 

*******

 

Dumbledore took a full day to be discharged, as St. Mungo’s was quite adamant about performing numerous tests and keeping him overnight just to be sure all was fine. He returned while Harry and Draco were in potions class, heading straight there upon entering the castle to personally retrieve them. Unfortunately, that was not the most opportune time; he stood in the doorway, taking in the scene. The students and Slughorn had created a wall with the tables, shooting stunning spells from behind it at what appeared to be electrified pixies zooming around the room. Upon being stricken, the pixies melted into pools of oil, or something highly resembling such. Harry and Draco were nowhere in sight. Dumbledore quickly helped dismantle the pixie cloud; once there was no more buzzing sounds, he noted there were banging sounds behind the door at the other end of the room: the potions storage room. Shouting, too, and some odd noises. Surely they weren’t…?

“They’re trying to subdue some sort of vicious teddy-bears,” Slughorn, out of breath from the fight, told Dumbledore.

Oh that note, the door burst open, Harry stumbling out shouting every expletive he knew, with a teddy bear dangling from his arm, viciously shaking it in an attempt to dislodge its fangs, only to cause it to dig its claws in as well. Draco dashed out carrying two more of them, both thankfully already unconscious, though he had plenty of scratches on him. A large bang was heard-- Harry had slammed the thing against the wall, knocking it out. He carefully dislodged it from his arm, blood dripping heavily from the wound.

“Last I checked, this was Potions class, not Defense or Care of Magical Creatures,” Dumbledore pointed out with amusement. Some things never changed, Draco and Harry fooling around in Potions being one of them. 

“Haha, yeah, true,” Harry chuckled weakly.

Dumbledore frowned. “Harry? Are you okay?”

Harry swayed dangerously, Draco darting over to help. “I think the bears might be venomous,” he muttered, as he collapsed in Draco’s arms, unconscious.

 

*******

 

Harry groaned as he realized he’d woken up in the Hospital Wing for the second time in that many days. He glanced around, realizing there was no blurry blob of a blonde-haired person beside him to give him his glasses, as usual. He sat up, pawing at the side table until he found them. Harry looked around; Draco was off to the side talking to Madam Strout about something, and very pissed off by his aura. Harry focused on listening in; apparently, she was still accusing them of being ‘dangerously codependent’ and was currently trying to convince a very stubborn Draco to go to class, trying to assure him that Harry would be safe while in their care for the few hours he was away.

“Ah, good, you’re awake now,” Madam Pomfrey said, shuffling over to him. “That was a very dangerous wound you acquired. I gave you a blood-replenishing potion, and administered an antivenin; luckily, the venom was something easily counterable this time, as we had the thing that attacked. You were only out about half an hour, but you’ll probably be somewhat lethargic for a few hours, so I’d like you to stay here. If all goes well, you can attend your afternoon classes. As to the other wounds--”

“Harry! You’re awake!” Draco dashed over to his boyfriend, nearly tackling him to the bed, to Madam Pomfrey’s displeasure. 

Harry noticed Draco still had a few small bandages on him, presumably where the bears had scratched him. So did he, actually, and his forearm was covered in a long bandage wrapped fully around it where he had been bitten and severely scratched.

Madam Pomfrey noticed Harry was looking at such, so continued where she’d left off when Draco interrupted. Apparently, as far as she could tell, bites and scratches caused by bears created using cosmic magic were not covered by vampire healing magic, although luckily the pain was still reduced-- which Harry was very glad for, as the bite stung something fierce even with such, meaning without it it would be unbearable. It would take a few days, but the scratches should heal without scars-- however, it was unknown if the bite mark would be the same.

Dumbledore entered the room then, just finishing up with dealing with the matter of what would happen to the creatures; the bears had been brought to Hagrid, who was quite pleased to have more potentially deadly creatures to attempt to tame. Draco at first thought it was a hopeless endeavor, until Harry reminded him how Hagrid had tamed a cerebus, acromantula, and baby dragon all on his own. Then Draco amended this thought to that there was maybe a one-in-ten chance he tamed them.

“So, I believe you had been desiring to see me yesterday?” Dumbledore casually enquired to the vampires.

“Oh! Right. Er, well…” Harry glanced at the two Healers. “It’s about the you-know-what's.”

“Ah, I see. Well, then, let us go to my office-- don’t worry, Poppy, I’ll make sure to bring him right back here if he shows any sign of fainting again.”

“We’ll need to get Luna, too,” Harry told the old wizard, as Draco helped him off the bed. He wobbled a little at first, but quickly got his bearings-- he definitely would have to be careful, as he felt a tiny bit like jello. “I think she’s in Defense right now.”

“Well, that is conveniently on the way.” Dumbledore smiled, as the three headed out of the Hospital Wing. “So, while we walk, mind telling me what this is about?”

“Luna found the Lost Diadem of Ravenclaw,” Harry told him.

“I see. I take it that it’s a horcrux?”

“Yes,” Draco replied. “She found it in the Room of Requirement. But there’s a slight complication with it…”

“A complication?”

“You’ll see,” Harry assured him.

They arrived at the Defense classroom, and Dumbledore knocked on the door politely. Kingsley came out, an expression of wonder on his face. “Dumbledore! You’ve recovered!”

“Yes, it appears so.” Dumbledore smiled kindly. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to see Miss Luna-- we have something to discuss in my office.”

“Relating to the mission that caused your coma?”

“Something like that.”

Kingsley nodded, returning to the classroom to retrieve Luna, upon whose head the diadem still sat. He frowned upon returning, noticing the bandages on the boys. “What happened to you two?”

“Evil teddy bears,” Draco told the man matter-of-factly.

“Evil… teddy bears?” 

“Evil teddy bears,” Dumbledore confirmed, then left with the three, leaving a thoroughly confused Kingsley in their wake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: The destruction of the diadem! Information on summoning revealed! 
> 
>  
> 
> About 4 chapters left. I know, I said that like 3 chapters ago-- this time it's true, I think.


	29. 'Magic' Brownies and Flaming Rats

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a ton of fun writing this chapter! I hope you have just as much reading it!

“Well, this is certainly problematic,” Dumbledore stated without emotion, in reference to Ravenclaw’s Diadem being stuck on Luna’s head-- and none of them being able to get it off-- then sighed. “Why did you put it on? The ring and locket should have provided evidence enough that the diadem was most likely cursed as well.”

“Well, I wasn’t aware it was a horcrux until I did,” Luna defended. “Besides, the only side-effect seems to be hearing one more voice than usual, and the stuck part. It is not as well defended as the others were.”

“Yes, well, he most likely assumed no one else knew about room, thinking he alone knew all of Hogwarts’ secrets, thus didn’t bother with doing anything too complex.”

Draco raised an eyebrow. “That’s a bit arrogant of him.” 

“Did he not notice the piles of things people hid there through the years?” Harry wondered. “Or did he think the room conjured them or something?”

“Yes, it is fairly obvious many people have used it,” Draco commented, then shook his head slowly in disbelief. “That’s one very large slip-up on his part.”

“Could we get this off me now?” Luna interjected, returning to the original subject. “The voice is getting annoying again.”

“Annoying how?” Harry asked curiously.

“Well, at first it hid and made frightened sounds, but I told it that it did not need to be afraid. Now it just tells me I should kill people. I think it actually wants to possess me, like the diary did to Ginny, but it is afraid to get too close to me.”

“I see… And who does it want you to kill?” Dumbledore asked worriedly, probably expecting it to be them.

“The people I don’t like.”

“And who would that be?” 

“Voldemort, the Death Eaters, and the girls in Ravenclaw, of course.”

“Wait, it’s encouraging you to kill Voldemort? Isn’t that, I don’t know, counter-productive to it being a horcrux?” Draco marvelled.

“Actually, not really. The version that came out of the diary seemed to be a bit contemptuous about his original self’s blunders,” Harry explained. “So it’s very possible this one, too, feels that way, and wants to redo things its own way…”

Luna looked contemplative. “Yes, I think that might be it…”

“Maybe we can use that to our advantage then.”

“Yes, perhaps. It does have strong magic.”

“Harry! Luna!” Draco scolded. “Are you daft? This is a horcrux you’re talking about! From the Dark Lord!”

“Draco is right,” Dumbledore said firmly. “We will find out how to remove it, and destroy it asap.”

Luna and Harry looked rather sheepish as they apologized, Luna adding, “I probably shouldn’t keep it on long anyway. It’s getting more persuasive about killing the Ravenclaw girls, saying I should use them for rituals. I won’t of course, but it is rather annoying.”

Dumbledore looked rather confused. “Why would you want to bring harm to the Ravenclaw girls?”

“Because they’re not nice to me. They hide my things and put stuff in my potions and call me ‘loony’ and use tripping jinxes so I drop things. Once I fell down the stairs.” She seemed slightly sad as she said this, but less than she theoretically should have been.

Dumbledore looked stunned at this news. “And how long has this been going on?”

“Since first year. But I’m used to it. Don’t worry, I won’t actually kill them.”

“Luna…” Harry was shocked. He knew Luna was teased by her housemates, but she never mentioned anything about it being that bad. And he knew why the sadness was subdued, too-- she had come to accept it as normal, as he had as a child. “If it’s been that bad, why haven’t you said anything?”

“Well, I didn’t want to bother anyone, of course. You have enough to deal with, and I can handle them. They’re not so bad.”

“But they knocked you down the stairs!” Draco burst.

Luna seemed to wilt a little at Draco’s tone. “Well, the stairs were technically my fault; I was distracted, so couldn’t catch myself in time-- I don’t think they actually meant for me to fall down them.”

“Don’t make excuses for them!”

“Draco! Don’t yell at her about it!” Harry scolded. “Yelling won’t help.”

Draco growled slightly, but took a deep breath to calm down. “You’re right. I apologize. Luna, just, please, don’t try to justify their actions; they are in the wrong, not you.”

“We will talk about this later, Luna, along with your head of house,” Dumbledore enjoined. “As for now, we really ought to work on removing the diadem from your head and destroying it, which means research. I’ll contact some experts; you three start in the library.”

“Sir? Could we go to class, first?” Luna requested. “We have Natural Magic, and I baked brownies for the class…”

“Ah, yes. NEWTs are soon; please, do the research after your classes. Luna, are you confident you can control it?”

“I will not listen to the voices or let it possess me,” Luna assured the old wizard.

 

*******

 

“This seems a bit dangerous to do while high,” Harry mused, sitting on a cloud about five meters above the lake. They were having their Natural Magic class outside that day, as they were reviewing things they’d learned thus far and Firenze wanted them to try larger-scale things. Plus, it was just a very nice day, and they usually had class outside on days like this anyway. Some students were practicing walking on water; some were building earth-sculptures; a small group was making controlled fires to burn patterns in the grass; a couple were playing catch with balls of electricity; and a few had conjured miniature models of what were supposedly airplanes, making them fly with air magic. Air magic was always taught and practiced outside, as inside the classroom it became too chaotic with them all trying to cause wind and whatnot in the small room, and the later stages of water magic, particularly water-walking, had to be practiced where there was plenty of water-- that is, the lake. Those already fairly proficient at those five elements they’d learned were working a little with manipulating multiple ones at once-- in Harry’s case, air and water, to make a dense cloud he could sit on, although it was very wet. He should have used a water-repelling charm. Oh, well-- live and learn. Draco was experimenting with ice magic, which they technically hadn’t studied yet, as it was a more advanced subset of water magic to be learned in later years, but Firenze basically let them do what they wanted and he was being successful, so it was fine.

“Would you like another brownie?” Luna asked, standing on the water below him, holding up a tray. Harry began maneuvering his cloud downwards, causing it to instead collapse and drop him into the water with a large splash-- the entire reason they had been instructed to practice any magic involving flying above the lake.

“Hey, you got the brownies wet!” Luna complained.

Harry looked up at Luna as he treaded water-- though still better than most the class, water magic wasn’t his favorite nor forte, so he didn’t bother trying to climb to stand on it as Luna did. “Ah, sorry about that; guess my cloud still needs work. Let’s go dry off; I need to put an impervious on my robes before trying that again anyway-- sitting on it got my butt all wet.”

Luna giggled, grabbing her wand as they reached the shore and drying off Harry and the brownies. “Here, have more!”

Harry grinned. “Sure, why not?” Luna made the best ‘special’ brownies. Firenze had requested specifically she bake some for today, since they were essentially having a free-range class; it really did seem to improve using this type of magic for most the students, as you had to feel in tune with nature to use it, which was tougher to do when tense. You had to let it flow through you, guide the elements to do what you desired, which was difficult when you were concentrating too much; this was really very different than the more controlled magic they learned in their other classes, which required more intense focus and specific words, so it took some effort to break that habit for many of the students. It technically was an entirely different type of magic, actually-- so much so that it worked in the Dreamlands whereas regular wizard magic did not. Like his cosmic magic and vampire magic were different than wizard magic, too, or the magic used in the Dreamlands. There were all so different. Yet most the wizarding world knew so little about all those nuances, sticking to just that one type of wand-controlled magic…

“Harry, you’re zoning out again!” Draco chuckled, knocking him on the shoulder. “Look, I made you something!”

“It’s adorable!” Harry beamed, looking at the little ice sculpture of a cat Draco had created. “I love it! But… won’t it melt?”

Draco frowned. “Right… oh, wait, I can transfigure it!” He collected his wand and tapped the little figurine, turning it to rose quartz-- which had properties promoting peace and love, as they had also learned in this class during a unit on stones. “Here!” He held it out to Harry, smiling, and Harry happily accepted the gift.

“You two are adorable,” Luna cooed, munching on another brownie.

 

*******

 

Right after, the trio headed to Care of Magical Creatures, which was very convenient as it was also outside. Luna spun in circles on the way, and Harry sat upon Draco’s shoulders. Luckily, Hagrid didn’t particularly care if they were under the influence while in his class, finding it funny for the most part. He’d probably be offering them mead if he hadn’t been scolded for doing so that time they visited him with Slughorn sixth year.

“Hi, Hagrid!” Harry called, waiving as they approached the hut-- he still was not higher than Hagrid despite his perch. Blaise and Neville were already there.

“Want some brownies?” Luna offered. “I baked them for Natural Magic class, but there’s still a lot left.” Seeing how high those three were already, the two accepted. So did Hagrid, although with his size, he’d need a few trays to see any effect.

“So, what are we doing today?” Draco asked, as their enthusiastic runespoor, Apollo, wound around him in greeting.

Harry cringed as the fanged teddy bears dashed over to hug him; they were tame now, and very apologetic about attacking, but Harry couldn’t help reacting that way-- even though for some reason they now seemed to love him unconditionally for no discernable reason.

“I ‘ave some guests today!” Hagrid told them. “Yeh see, yer NEWTs ‘ave a section on magical beings, so I invited some friends fer yeh teh meet! Well, actually, yeh all kno’ some o’ them, and some o’ yeh may know all o’ ‘em. They’re on the ot’er side o’ the ‘ouse, where the seats are.” The ‘seats’ were a haphazard assortment of logs and stumps that were set up for classes to sit on, as well as a picnic table, after too many complaints about having to sit on the grass. “There’s a faun, a demon, a ‘ole family o’ nekomata-- three o’ em-- an’ a werewolf.” He grinned broadly.

Harry grinned back, jumping from Draco’s shoulders. “Let me guess-- Mindy, Shiki, Cleo’s family, and Remus?”

“And two vampires, a half-goddess, and a half-giant,” Blaise pointed out. “Hmm, Neville, it seems us full-humans are in the minority here today.”

“Oh no, whatever shall we do? They’ll eat us alive!” Neville said with mock worry, then broke out into laughter-- Luna had already forced more brownies on them.

“Woof woof!” Came a bark, as they approached the sitting area; Sirius-- in dog form-- and Fang barrelled over. Selardi, who had joined them at some point, hissed and climbed onto the roof of the hut.

“Haha, down boy!” Harry laughed, nudging Sirius off him, and his godfather returned to human form. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, I couldn’t miss the fun, could I?” Sirius winked. “Hey… are you all high?”

“I made brownies for our Natural Magic class,” Luna informed him. “There’s plenty left for everyone!” She darted over to offer them to the creatures once Sirius grabbed one.

“So, we’re having a party instead of class?” Blaise asked jovially, spotting the large barrel of mead and glasses set on the picnic table, as well as piles of confections, which the guests had already helped themselves to.

“Party? Nah. We’re observin’ magical beings in ‘eir natural environment!” Hagrid winked conspiratorially. “As well as wha’ they eat an’ drink, an’ samplin’ things if yeh want as well. Cleo brough’ treats o’ all sorts-- don’ worry, there’s plenty fit fer humans, too!”

Harry’s eyes lit up. “If we’re observing what creatures eat and drink, can I have a chicken?”

“Well o’ cour--”

“NO.” Blaise and Neville said together adamantly. 

“Mind if I join in?” an unexpected voice sounded from behind them. A woman strode over to them, black starlit eyes shining mischievously, tentacles-- which she had instead of arms-- planted on her hips, wearing what appeared to be a loose roman tunic.

“Do we have a choice?” Harry asked.

“No, not really,” acknowledged Nyarlathotep. “Oh! Hello, Faunus. It’s been a while. A thousand years?”

“Ah, well, maybe, yeah… also, it’s Mindy now…” Mindy muttered, glancing around.

“Is it? Well then, Mindy, let’s catch up, shall we?” Nyarlathotep sat down next to her, wrapping a tentacle around her shoulders, garnering a glare from Shiki, whom Mindy quickly introduced to the Outer God.

“Faunus?” Harry whispered to Draco. “Isn’t that…?”

“Something I don’t think she wants people knowing,” Draco whispered. “Best to leave it.”

“Mmmm, okay. Oh, look, Cleo made those blood linzer tarts!” Harry dashed to the table of sweets, Draco in tow.

 

*******

 

Luna, Harry, and Draco were giggling heavily as they raced to Dumbledore’s office, knocking on his door.

“Come in,” Dumbledore called. They entered to find Snape talking with him.

“We got the diadem off!” Luna cheered, waving it in the air. 

Snape raised an eyebrow. “Are you three inebriated right now?”

“Just a little bit, maybe,” Harry chimed giddily.

“You had classes before this, correct? Did you skip in order to imbibe?”

“No, it was part of class!” Luna told him excitedly. “We had a party! Here, want a brownie? I made way too many. We had them in Natural Magic, and then more in Care of Magical Creatures, but there’s still sooooo many left!”

Dumbledore had his head in his hands, elbows on the desk, clearly not wanting to deal with this. “Luna, you put something in those brownies, didn’t you?”

“What do you mean, it was ‘part’ of class?” Snape demanded, looking at Draco for an explanation, as he looked the most sober.

“We actually did have a party,” the blonde vampire told him happily. “As a legit part of class. You see, the curriculum includes magical beings, so Hagrid invited some over, and we had a totally groovy party with them.” He giggled. 

Snape blinked. “‘Totally groovy’?” 

“It’s muggle slang; we learned it in Muggle Studies!” Draco said proudly.

Harry snorted. “Yeah, totally outdated slang.”

Dumbledore sighed, standing up. “Luna, give me the diadem; I’ll destroy it.” He turned to the case on the wall behind his desk, removing Gryffindor’s sword. “How did you get it off, might I ask?”

“Oh, Nyarlathotep went to the party too, so removed it for us.”

“Of course he did… now, Luna, the diadem?”

“Oh, yes! Here.” Luna politely handed over the diadem, and Dumbledore cut it with the sword. It let out a sickening scream as it died.

Dumbledore put the sword away, leaving the severed diadem on the desk, then turned to Snape. “Severus, I believe you said you had some important information, before these three interrupted?”

“Ah, yes. The Dark Lord has found a ritual he thinks may work to summon things here from the Dreamlands, after some modifications. He is still working on those modifications, but I believe he is likely to be successful with it eventually.”

“We found one too,” Luna piped up. “Or, rather, Nyarlathotep told us of it. We can summon the shantak birds!”

“We are not summoning the shantak birds,” Draco told her firmly.

“But--”

“No. And you know why,” he added, before she could ask.

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Care to enlighten us?”

“It requires sacrifices,” Harry informed him. “Human ones. Plural.”

“Ah. Then yes, we will not be summoning such… however, this is troublesome; I take it Voldemort may end up constructing a similar method?”

“That seems to be where it’s headed,” Snape said somberly.

“Hold on… if he’s going to summon the night-gaunts, what’s to stop him from summoning more than just them? He’s borrowing them from Nodens, I assume, who also rules over the other abyss creatures, like the gugs, ghouls, and ghasts…”

“He won’t though,” Draco assured him. “The only ones Nodens directly controls are the night-gaunts, who have no free-will. Maybe he can get the ghouls to help, but they suck at fighting. But there definitely won’t be ghasts; they not only disintegrate in light, but also can’t really differentiate between friend and foe, to the point of attacking and eating each other… yeah, morbid, I know.” This last part was directed at Snape and Dumbledore, who had looks of surprise at that bit of information on ghasts.

“And the gugs?” Harry asked quietly. “He’s going to bring gugs, isn’t he?”

Draco scoffed. “I doubt it. They eat humans.”

“So? The giants do as well, yet he used them in the war last time, and might again, right?” He directed the last bit towards Dumbledore and Snape, who confirmed such. “Right. So he might use them. We are seriously screwed if he does.”

“What exactly are gugs?” Dumbledore asked.

“Giants with fur, claws, eyes that stick out where ears should be, and gigantic vertical mouths filled with fangs.”

“Ah. Then yes, we are ‘screwed’ if he uses those.”

“We need to recruit help,” Snape decided. “Obviously, the Order alone won’t be enough, nor will the aurors, if he summons these things. His Death Eater arsenal has grown a bit, too.”

“Yig said he would help if we needed,” Harry remembered.

“The snake god?” Dumbledore asked curiously. “Would he fight?”

“I don’t know. I think it’s more likely he’d send us an army of snakes.”

Dumbledore mulled that over. “Yes, that could be effective; it’d be good to ask. Just make sure there’s no basilisks.”

“I’m not sure I’d have any control over that.”

“Well, it certainly won’t hurt to ask, correct?”

“Right. Oh! Shurash-ho also offered his help when needed since we saved him from Gringotts. He’s the dragon that helped you with the battle in the Dreamlands.”

“We-- you can make potion creatures, too, Harry!” Draco remembered excitedly. “You summoned the few you made last battle, remember? We can do the same for this one! Let’s get to work!”

“Right now?”

“Right now!” Draco pulled Harry out the door, forgetting they were in the middle of a discussion.

After a moment of stunned silence, Snape spoke up. “Should we really be letting them brew dangerous potions while immensely high and drunk?”

“Oh, they’ll be fine,” Luna chimed, playing with Fawkes’s tail absentmindedly, the bird inexplicably perched on her head.

“I suppose…” mused Dumbledore. “After all, they can’t do worse than those teddy bears, and even those are now tame.”

 

*******

 

Harry and Draco took over an old unused potions classroom deep in the dungeons, near their lounge, as they had some books to retrieve from there. The classroom had scorch marks all over it; obviously, someone’s potion had caused a large explosion long ago-- although whether it occurred when it had still been in use for classes or not was anyone’s guess. They thought it would be a good idea to try making creatures from the strange dark potions in some of the books from Grimmauld Place’s hidden room-- they hadn’t actually returned them all, as they had told the older adults.

“This one looks interesting,” Draco mused. “It causes the drinker’s blood to feel like it’s boiling, though doesn’t actually cause such. What do you think a creature made from it would do?”

“Hmm. It just makes them feel the pain of it, not actually does it? So, maybe such a creature would cause pain when touching someone.”

“Eh. Doesn’t sound like it’d be the best for a battle. Subduing enemies to capture them, yes, but not in a battle.”

“True… hey, this potion causes grotesque pustules to sprout all over them, look, there’s a picture…”

“Ugh, that is utterly disgusting. I bet the creature would shoot pus at people or something, causing them to faint from disgust. Is it easy to make?”

“Yeah, pretty easy. Do you want to throw some type of object in, too, to give it a predetermined shape, or try luck?” After the incident that created a knife-monster when Harry accidentally cut himself and caused the bloody knife to fall in, they’d played around with using other objects.

“Hmm. Let’s try our luck,” Draco decided. 

“Got it. Oh, let’s try this potion, too; it’s also really easy. We can each brew one; and don’t forget, we have to make sure we both put our blood in, so we both can summon them.”

“Of course. What’s the potion do?”

“No idea; there’s just the name of it, no description. ‘Reaper’s Kiss’.”

“Right. Well, just by the name that sounds really bad, so let’s not make it after all, okay?”

“Oh, all right… hmm… oh, this one can be used to create difficult-to-heal burns, and is easy as well.”

“Yes, that sounds better. Okay, let’s get the ingredients; some are in our kits, but we’ll need others from the store room.” He headed out the door, Harry following.

“Hey!” Harry jumped excitedly, once they’d returned from the store room. “Look, there’s a rat over there! Think we should use it in a potion?”

“Er. We’ve never used an animal for it before. Think it’s safe?”

“Never know until you try!” Harry leapt at the rat, changing into a cat as he did so. Draco and Selardi joined him, and soon they had a nice plump rat ready to become a new creature.

“Okay, cool. Let’s put some music on, too,” Draco said excitedly. Sirius had found speakers that could plug into their Walkman. Thus, still high, the two began to brew, singing and dancing to the music as they did so.

_“Clock strikes twelve and moondrops burst out at you from their hiding place / Like acid and oil on a madman’s face his reasons tend to fly away…”_

 

*******

 

An hour later, Harry and Draco burst into Snape’s office, as it was in the dungeons, with scorched clothing and some nasty burns.

Snape looked at the two in shock. “What in the--”

“Giant. Flaming. Rats.” Draco coughed out.

“The fire rat combined with a winged teapot that shoots pus so now it’s triple the size and also flies and spits sticky steam out of its proboscis,” Harry added in a rush, coughing a little too. “Then, it kinda duplicated, so there’s two of them…”

“I knew it was a bad idea to let you brew when high,” Snape muttered, then turned his voice firm. “Can you not control these things? You created them. Most your… creations, you have been able to control.”

“Er. Well, apparently using a live rat wasn’t the best idea… they’re still rats at heart, thus very angry…” Draco explained, with another cough. “Ugh. That sticky steam is not pleasant.”

Snape sighed. “Right. Well, I’ll get Dumbledore, who will probably need to call the Ministry, once again. Meanwhile, you both need to see Madam Pomfrey for the burns and all that coughing, which I assume is from that ‘sticky steam’.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: NEWTs! Then, the final battle begins...
> 
> Song lyrics are from "Astronomy" by Blue Oyster Cult.
> 
> I apologize, but I won't be able to get the next chapter to you until at least the weekend; things came up, and I'm going to be much busier than usual the next few days and during the weekend. There's three more chapters to go, solidly so. At least, that's the plan.


	30. NEWTs and Armies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long but here it is! It became longer than expected; so there will be three chapters following this to end it, not two as intended. Enjoy!

“Ugh… why do exams exist again?” Harry lamented, flopping his head onto the table. He was in the Gryffindor common room with Ron and Hermione-- one of the rare moments when it was just them, like old times; Draco was currently in Muggle Studies, Neville was helping Sprout with some rare plant Harry forgot the name of, Luna was in History of Magic, and Blaise was off in Hogsmeade doing ‘business transactions’.

“Harry! Without exams, there’s no way to prove what you’ve learned!” Hermione chided.

“Er. Yeah, there is; it’s called putting it into practice. When you go to a healer, they heal you. So you know they know how to heal. You’re not going to ask to see their degree or whatever.”

“Because it’s assumed a healer has a degree!”

“But you still don’t need a degree to know it!”

“Ugh. Fine, believe what you want. Fact of the matter is, we have our NEWTs soon, whether you agree with them being necessary or not, so you need to study!”

“But I know all this already… it's boring…”

“Yeah, Hermione, we don’t really need to study the Defense materials,” Ron pointed out.

“Actually, yes, you do,” Hermione said firmly. “The exam is going to ask about things that you have different information and opinions about. If we get an essay question on dark books, you can’t be writing how they’re not so bad and have useful information and spells that can actually be good if you use them right, and about how the Necronomicon is nice! That attitude will get you investigated by the Ministry!”

Harry rolled his eyes. “Come on, I know better than to put that.”

“Then what will you write on them? What does the textbook say about what to do if you find a dark book?”

“Er…”

“Exactly. And what if something on dark creatures appears? Vampires, werewolves, demons, etc? You either are or are friends with such, so your information and insights are going to be different than the book things, too.”

“Okay, I get it. I’m done right now though; I’ll get back to studying later.” Harry stood up and made to leave.

“And just what do you plan to do instead?”

“Does it matter?”

Ron sighed. “Mate, you know we have to ask.”

“Oh, right, you’re my babysitters now.”

“Harry, could you stop being difficult about this?” Hermione huffed. “We’re not going to go through this every time. It’s not going to change.”

“I just don’t see why you all insist on knowing where I am all the time!”

“Don’t you? Every time you’re left alone, you get into trouble, often landing in the hospital wing. We’re just worried.”

“...Yeah, I guess. Still annoying.” Harry grumbled.

“So? Where are you heading, then?” Ron pressed.

Harry thought for a moment; he had no clue what he was going to do, as his plan only had gotten as far as ‘not study’. Finally he settled on something. “I’m going to go do cat things.”

“Cat things?”

“Cat things.” Harry leapt, transforming to his cat form as he did so, scampering off before Ron or Hermione could say anything more about it.

 

*******

 

Draco glared at Ron and Hermione as they stood outside of the defense classroom. “Harry was supposed to be with you. Where is he?” 

Ron shifted in discomfort. “Er. Well…”

“You lost him, didn’t you?”

“Yeah…”

Hermione frowned. “He should be here though. He knows we have class.”

“Well, did he say where he was going? You did ask, right?”

“Yes, of course we bloody asked,” Ron huffed. “Merlin, you’re overprotective…”

“Of course I’m overprotective! He’s always getting in trouble when left alone!” Draco took a deep breath. “I just… I get worried,” he mumbled.

Hermione put her hand on Draco’s shoulder. “We know. But put some faith in him. You’ll know if he’s in trouble from the bracelet; let that do the work of monitoring him. Plus, he has the mirror, if you need to check up on him. Like right now.” 

“Right! I forgot!” Draco tried calling Harry, but there was no reply. He sighed. “Does he have his bag with him, wherever he went? He usually keeps it in there on days when he has classes.”

“Last we saw it, it was in the common room; he left without it, in cat-form, saying he was going to do cat things,” Ron explained.

Draco let out an exasperated growl. “Of course he did… he probably go stuck in the cat’s mind again, knowing him. I’ll go find him.”

“But we have class now!” Hermione looked scandalized.

Draco gave her a withering look. “I think Harry’s more important.”

 

*******

 

“Aww, look at the cute kitty!”

Harry, lounging on a warm stone outside, lazily opened one eye. A group of small humans. Well, they looked innocent enough. One of the females tepidly walked over, and after a sniff of her hand, Harry rolled onto his back, permitting her to pet his tummy. He purred loudly once she gained confidence and began petting with more gusto. The sniff had alerted Harry to the fact that she belonged to one of the Ravenclaw cats. Well, that was okay; he already had multiple human servants of his own. Hopefully the other cat wouldn’t mind him borrowing her. Soon, a few of the other humans with her began petting him too. He stretched out further, purred even louder, revelling in the attention. Pets felt so nice. 

Harry suddenly noted the vage scent of his sometimes-human-servant-sometimes-friend-cat; he meowed to let him know where he was. Friend-cat trotted over and plopped down nearby, sitting regally and giving him a disapproving stare. Harry looked at him curiously. Why was friend-cat angry? Harry didn’t do anything wrong, had he?

“Aww, there’s another kitty!” Some of the students headed towards friend-cat. He hissed, but one managed to get behind his ear and begin scratching, and he made a sound between a purr and a growl. Good. Friend-cat deserved nice pets too. Soon, friend-cat was on his back as well, receiving wonderful tummy-rubs.

“Shouldn’t you five be in class?” Came the voice of an adult human female. “Detention tonight, all of you, and five points taken, each. Skipping is not something tolerated here.”

“But, the cats…”

“Petting cats is not a good reason to miss class, Miss Stevenson. Now, go, before I decide to give you two nights’ detention instead.”

The small humans squeaked like mice and hurried off. Harry whined in disappointment at the absence of pets. Maybe the adult human would pet him. Why wasn’t she petting him? She was standing there frowning. Was there something wrong with them, that she didn’t want to pet them? Harry meowed in annoyance.

Suddenly, a spell hit Harry, and then one hit friend-cat! They bounced off, ineffective, but Harry and friend-cat hissed anyway, as that was a very rude thing to do.

“Oh, right, I forgot that doesn’t affect you,” the human mumbled.

Suddenly, the human wasn’t there! Instead, it was another cat! But why was she staring angrily at him and friend-cat? Now she was walking up to friend-cat. She smacked him on the nose! How rude. Friend-cat backed up, looking sad and embarrassed. Why was that? Harry sat there in confusion. What was going on?

Friend-cat became his human again.

The female now walked over to Harry, smacking him on the nose too! Harry hissed, offended. She had no right to do that! She looked at him in puzzlement now. She tried to tell him something, but Harry was already distracted, hopping into the air to try catching a butterfly. But before he could catch the butterfly, he felt himself being lifted up by his neck-scruff! Who was doing that? His human! His human had the nerve to do such! Harry tried to struggle, but it was no use-- the neck-scruff hold made his body keep fairly still. The human was staring directly at him now, unblinking and angry. Harry meowed in annoyance. What right did he have to challenge Harry’s authority over him? Harry stared back, also unblinking.

Harry felt a prickling in his mind as the human stared at him. Suddenly, he felt an urge to become a human too. That was odd; he wasn’t a human, he was a cat! Flashes of memory were shown to him. Right, so he was human too… but why should be be human now? ...Class? Oh! Class! They were already late though, did he have to go? Yes? But why? Draco should be a cat too and they could play! No? Change back? Harry felt an odd prickling again, a compulsion to turn back to human… which he did.

Harry blushed in embarrassment. “Er. Sorry about that,” he mumbled. 

“You two really must practice control over your animal forms!” McGonagall scolded. 

“I was managing just fine, mostly!” Draco defended. “They’d only pet me for a minute by the time you appeared-- I had come out here to find Harry, as Defense was starting yet he was nowhere in sight. I would have gained back control.”

“Hmm. Yes, I suppose I can believe that. You tend to have more control over your animagus instincts… But, Harry, do you even try to take control over it?”

“Yes! But the sun was so warm and the rock so nice, and then they were petting me so much…”

“Well. Whereas I do understand how nice it is to be pet, you also have to have sense about it! Detention tonight for skipping class; I will help teach you how to control cat instincts there.”

“What?! I didn’t skip intentionally! I just lost track of time… and, well, they were petting me...”

“Skipping is still skipping, whether intentional or not. Now, get to class. You may let Kingsley know that I already have given you detention for not attending class on time.”

 

*******

 

“Draaaaaco!”

“Not now, Harry, I’m studying. You should be studying, too.”

“But I want to play…” Harry flopped down on the loveseat next to his boyfriend.

“...”

“Come on, just a little?” Harry nuzzled into Draco’s neck.

“No…”

“Aww, come on, pleeeeease?”

Draco looked at Harry carefully. “What are you on right now?”

“Hmmm?”

“What did you take?”

“Nothing, why do you ask?”

“Because you only act this… fluffy, when you’re high.”

“Fluffy?”

“Excessively bubbly, affectionate, and needy, all while completely adorable.”

“Hmmmm…. Hagrid had a dog named fluffy once. It was huge and had three heads.”

“Ah, and excessively distractible too. Yes, you are definitely on something. Wait a second. Didn’t you just come from detention?”

“Maaaaaaybe…”

“So you took something in between there and here?”

“Maaaaaaybe…”

“Stop saying ‘maybe’ like that. What was it, and do you have more?”

“Mmmm… I don’t know what it was; Luna gave me it. Why, want some?”

“...Maaaaaybe.” Draco grinned and tickled Harry’s sides, making him squeal.

 

*******

 

Harry stumbled into Herbology, barely making it on time, clothes rumpled and hair messier than usual.

“And he arrives on time for once!” Hermione proclaimed. 

“We missed you at breakfast,” Ron commented.

“Er. You okay, Harry?” Neville asked. “You look a bit ruffled.”

“Ah, yeah, I’m fine,” Harry assured them. “Bit of a headache, that’s all. Draco and I, er, kinda passed out and didn’t wake until five minutes ago... He’ll probably be late to his Charms class, since he insisted upon changing first, but I just ran right here.” 

“Passed out?” Hermione asked. “Wait, don’t tell me-- you drank too much again.”

“Something like that,” Harry muttered.

Professor Sprout then began speaking, explaining that henceforth classes will all be review for what they might see on their NEWTs. She gestured to the table, which had a myriad of plants; they’d be rotating around them in groups, seeing what they remembered about each.

The other classes for which they’d be doing NEWTs-- and an OWL, in Draco’s case-- all followed Sprout’s example, beginning to prepare for exams.

 

*******

 

“Potter. What exactly is that supposed to be?” McGonagall asked.

“Er… a bird?” Harry tried. They were supposed to be turning teacups into birds, something that would definitely be on the practical Transfiguration NEWT.

“Last I checked, birds did not have horns.”

“Er. Well. It might just be modelled after one… not from Earth,” Harry admitted. He had forgotten that. Spending so much time in the Dreamlands seemed to have started causing him to mix some things up between the two worlds, forgetting what belonged where at times.

“I see. Well, please refrain from creating things the examiners have never seen, please.”

 

*******

 

“Harry,” Slughorn sighed. “Please, please, please stick to the regular recipes for potions when it comes to the exam; whereas your amortentia is quite adorable, the examiners will not be pleased with tiny puppies running around making people… excited.”

“Sorry about that,” Harry blushed. “That really wasn’t the intention this time, promise…” He’d been careless again, pricking his finger. “It was entirely by accident... really, it was!”

“Right… Draco, what in the world are you doing with that apple?!”

“I love it.”

Slughorn sighed, noting Ron and Blaise snickering. “Okay, which one of you spiked the apple this time?”

 

*******

 

“Oh! Harry! You actually made the teacup sing!” Flitwick gleefully cheered. “Well, if you do that on the exam, you’ll definitely get bonus marks!” They were only required to make the teacups hum simple tunes. “However, perhaps choose a less disturbing song next time-- the examiners might not appreciate this one.”

Harry cringed slightly. “Er. Right. Yeah, I suppose I could see how they might not, although I didn’t tell it what to sing...” The song chosen by the teacup was ‘Having a Blast’ by Green Day, which Harry had heard a grand total of once when Sirius had very recently shown them his new CD player, picking an album at random from the pile of assorted CDs by newer artists he had gotten recently when he had suddenly realized he knew no bands from the current era. At Hogwarts though, Harry and Draco only had their Walkman with the cassettes Sirius gave them, which mostly consisted of 70s music from his teenage years. Hopefully the next teacup would choose something from that repertoire.

 

*******

 

Before they knew it, the NEWTs were upon them.

Harry would be testing for NEWTs in six classes: Defense, Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, Herbology, and Care of Magical Creatures. Draco would be testing for all the same, as well as for an OWL in Muggle Studies. Blaise and Hermione had it toughest, as they both had Runes and Arithmancy on top of the other NEWTs, although Hermione wasn’t taking Care of Magical Creatures whereas Blaise was. Neville and Ron had it easiest, testing for just four and five classes respectfully. Well, that technically wasn’t true, as Luna was a sixth year, thus usually wouldn’t have NEWTs-- she did have one though, as she’d been permitted to skip a year in Care of Magical Creatures. So she had it easiest… for now; when she did the rest of her NEWTs the next year, she would be testing for six.

The practical part of the Care of Magical Creatures exam was the easiest exam Harry ever had to do-- true, some of the creatures they hadn’t studied, as they were apparently too boring for Hagrid to cover, but due to the cosmic magic Harry and Draco could communicate with them, therefore merely had to ask them what he had to do and request-- or order-- they be compliant. Luna seemed to be able to do the same, minus the command part, though the creatures always listened to her without needing such. Blaise and Neville had a bit tougher of a time, but no one got bitten, which was good.

Charms went very well, too. The examiner was delighted when he made his quill both sing and dance, rather than just dance and hum. Luckily, it chose a much nicer song than the teacup did: ‘Piano Man’ by Billy Joel. The examiner was apparently a fan. Harry definitely felt he got an O on that one.

Transfiguration, however, got a little messy. Not that the task wasn’t successful-- they had to turn a fork into a frog, and Harry had indeed done so. Problem was, the frog he constructed was a golden dart frog, and its high toxicity caused the examiner to nearly die on the way to the Hospital Wing after trying to pick it up to properly examine it. Harry wasn’t sure if he would lose points for nearly killing the examiner or if he’d get bonus points for creating a rare species.

Draco was the one to mess up next, in Herbology. Again, it wasn’t specifically a mistake with the exam itself, but he knocked into a plant that had no business being where it was, which then released spores that caused the entire class, sans him and Harry, to fall asleep for the remainder of the exam, causing it to require rescheduling. The second time, Ron did the same thing, after which the examiners finally had the sense to move the plant to a different greenhouse.

Potions actually went very well, at least for Harry and Draco; they had had the sense to wear gloves, to avoid any accidental knife cuts causing blood to enter their potions-- and it was a good thing did, for indeed Harry ended up nicking the glove with the knife.

Defense, however, was a little problematic this time, on both parts. The written exam had a lot of questions about dark object safety and creatures, as Hermione had predicted, so Harry was glad he had studied the book with her. Although he was positive all his answers were ‘correct’, it was upsetting to have to write all those wrong answers, saying all that was bad when they weren’t always. When Harry became a teacher, he surely would teach his students how so-called ‘dark’ magic was not all necessarily evil. He wondered if that’s what Durmstrang’s class was like-- they supposedly learned dark magic there. During the practical, they had to identify dark objects and books, assess their danger level, and demonstrate how to deal with them, over which Harry ended up in a fight with the examiner. Draco intervened, after which Harry completed the exam correctly with reluctance, but the examiner was not very happy. Harry hoped he wouldn’t get marks off for that; he didn’t want to break his six-year streak of Os on all Defense finals.

Draco also had an OWL to complete, in Muggle Studies, as he’d only taken it from fifth year onwards. This involved a written exam, for which he nearly ran out of time since he got over-excited on the essay questions thus wrote much more than required, as well as a practical, which involved things like using a telephone, television, and microwave, plugging things into electrical outlets, and properly identifying tools in a toolbox-- the last one being something many muggles probably didn’t know, come to think of it. Draco was extremely confident that he passed with flying colors, of course.

And thus, exams were over.

 

*******

 

_“My life was empty, forever on a down / Until you took me, showed me around / My life is free now, my life is clear / I love you sweet leaf, though you can’t hear…”_

The Saturday following exams ended found Draco, Harry, Luna, and Blaise in their lounge, passing around a joint with music blaring. Ron and Hermione had disappeared somewhere-- Harry suspected they might finally be acting on their obvious feelings for each other-- and Neville was off helping Sprout with plants, as he often did, for he planned to do an apprenticeship with her after graduating, working towards the right to be called a Herbology Master-- though Harry suspected Sprout also wanted to train him to succeed her in teaching it.

“So glad exams are over!” Harry sighed. “NEWTs are brutal. Definitely live up to their name.”

“Really? I thought they were fine…”

“Luna, you only had one,” Blaise pointed out.

“They weren’t that bad,” Draco said reasonably. “We all did fairly well, right?”

Harry chuckled. “You mean, besides me nearly killing an examiner and getting in a fight with another, and you putting the entire class to sleep?”

“Hey! That plant had no right to be there! Besides, Ron did that too.”

Suddenly, the lounge door slid open with a small beeping sound. Neville stood in the doorway, and behind him…”

“What the fuck, Neville?!” Harry shouted, standing up abruptly.

“Language, Potter,” Snape chided. “I’m not here about your… recreational choices.”

“Then why are you here?” demanded Draco, also standing. Probably one he and Harry could get away with speaking to Snape in such a manner, thus the other two were silently observing.

“I am here because there’s some vital information to convey to both you and Dumbledore,” he said contritely. “You were closer than his office, so I am telling you first: the Dark Lord is mobilizing tonight, with plans to attack Hogwarts. He has managed to bring an an army of night-gaunts, ghouls, and ibians to our world, thus will be using those in addition to his array of Death Eaters. He also claims to have some giants and werewolves helping. Now would be the time to call those who have offered to help you fight.”

Harry’s eyes widened. “B-but, we don’t have nearly that amount! We have Yig’s snakes, the Order, and the potion creatures-- we’re going to need more than that!”

“We have aurors, too,” Snape said calmly. “I’m sure that will be enough. From my understanding, the ghouls and ibians are horrid at fighting; only the night-gaunts will prove problematic, as far as Dreamlands creatures go. The Order can fight those, as they’ve been briefed already on their nature at past meetings, and the aurors can stick to the creatures they’re familiar with, namely humans, werewolves, and giants.”

Selardi meowed something, and Draco looked at her incredulously. They talked for a second, then Draco announced, “We apparently have a legion of cats to help too.”

“I see. Now, I must tell Dumbledore all this, and he’ll need to contact the Ministry; please, contact Yig.” With that, Snape glided away with a swish of his robes.

Blaise looked forlornly at the joint between his fingers. “Guess we better stop smoking for today, then... So, how do we contact Yig?”

Harry realized they all were looking at him, then shifted awkwardly. “Er… actually, I’m not sure…”

“Could you travel to the Dreamlands to look, maybe?” Neville asked. “Or, summon that god thing, Nyarla-something?”

“Well, he actually doesn’t reside in the Dreamlands, and he and Nyarlathotep don’t really like each other much…”

“We can use a ritual,” Luna suggested.

“Harry, contacting Nyarlathotep should work,” Draco told him. “They might dislike each other, but it’s more like quarreling siblings, really.”

“...I suppose you’re right…” Harry touched the charm on his collar and focused on calling the Outer God.

The room filled with Darkness, and a large black tentacled shadow creature appeared, terrifying Neville and Blaise.

“Mister Nyarlathotep, will you please go to a form that doesn’t scare the humans?” Luna requested.

Nyarlathotep shifted into his pharaoh form. “How may I help you?”

“Voldemort plans to attack the school tonight,” Harry explained. “We need help. Yig offered to provide us snakes before, but we’re not sure how to contact him.”

“So you wish for me to.”

“If that’s no trouble… I know you two are a little, er, disagreeable with each other.”

“I suppose that is one way to put it. Very well, though. I’ll go talk to him. Oh, and I myself have some cults who worship various forms of mine ready to help, as well. I will send them to you.” With that, Nyarlathotep vanished.

 

*******

 

The hour Voldemort’s army would appear approached. Students had been evacuated, with the exception of those of-age who wished to fight, who stood outside with the rest of those fighting. There were all the aurors currently available, even some retired ones; the entire Order; all the professors; a very large number of snakes of all shapes, sizes, and venemousity, including the basilisk and Apollo; off to one side so they couldn’t accidentally kill anyone were the creatures Harry and Draco created via potions; and true to Selardi’s word, a legion which seemed to include every cat from the castle and neighboring villages. Harry smiled. Maybe they did have a fair chance.

“Harry.” Sirius stood in front of his godson, putting his hands on his shoulders. “Promise me you’ll be careful. No huge heroics like you did back at the Ministry battle. If anyone is struck down, even me, just keep fighting; you won’t be able to save everyone, no one can. Understand?”

“Yes, I understand,” Harry said reluctantly. And he did, he realized with surprise. People here would die, on both sides; that was fact.

“I think they’re here!” Someone called, and they all braced themselves for the large group of cloaked figures making their way through the gates… oddly somehow avoiding the wards. On closer inspection, their cloaks were not black Death Eater ones, rather crimson with gold trim, which was a bit tough to see in the red-orange light of the setting sun.

“Wait!” Harry called. “I think they’re on our side.” He darted over to what appeared to be the leader, faster than a human would run, to the many aurors’ surprise. After conversing a bit with the leader to confirm, he led the group over to the others, introducing them as one of the cults of Nyarlathotep. There were perhaps fifty of them. Despite being muggles, they were armed with various magic-enhanced weapons-- swords, knives, throwing-stars, maces, brass knuckles, and even some guns that apparently could shoot various spells rather than bullets. The Ministry would surely love that.

Suddenly, a dark cloud moved quickly their way. As it approached, it could be seen that it was not a cloud, rather night-gaunts, each carrying a sallow-skinned ghoul, amphibious ibian, or black-cloaked Death Eater. Harry felt stupid-- of course they would merely fly over the warded gates! The cloud descended, fired at by those with wands and long-range weapons; the Death-Eaters fired back, but some ibians and ghouls fell. Stunning spells bounced off the night-gaunts, but the cultists’ weapons seemed to work, and those being carried by the fallen night-gaunts fell to the ground, the Dreamlands creatures vanishing once defeated, just as a human would had they been in the Dreamlands. The Death Eaters, though, weren’t so lucky, the few fallen ones splattering on the ground, bloody if they were high enough up, though the night-gaunts were mostly now low enough that they were about to be set down anyway, so could get up if prematurely dropped. Once most had alighted, the armies charged at each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Time: The Battle of Hogwarts.
> 
> Expect it in one or two days!
> 
> Song used in this chapter was "Sweet Leaf" by Black Sabbath.


	31. The Battle of Hogwarts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "During the Jurassic age the [Elder Things] met fresh adversity in the form of a new invasion from outer space—this time by half-fungous, half-crustacean creatures from a planet identifiable as the remote and recently discovered Pluto; creatures undoubtedly the same as those figuring in certain whispered hill legends of the north, and remembered in the Himalayas as the Mi-Go."
> 
> [Said by Mi-Go]: "(Nyarl)athotep, Great Messenger, bringer of strange joy to Yuggoth through the void, Father of the Million Favoured Ones..."  
> \--H.P. Lovecraft, excerpt from "The Whisperer in Darkness"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The entire battle, in one chapter! Clocking in at 4833 words, it's the longest chapter yet! It worked best being all at once, instead of spread between two chapters as initially intended. Yesteday I said there would be three chapters left, but because of this it's only two. So, enjoy the penultimate chapter!

Harry, Draco, Selardi, Kingsley, and Dumbledore acted as the commanders of their ragtag army, both together as one unit but also focused on specific groups: Dumbledore for the Order and students, as he was their leader and headmaster; Kingsley for the aurors-- as both former head auror and a member of the Order, it was determined he’d be best for such; Selardi for the cats; and Harry and Draco for the potion creatures, snakes, and cultists, whom only they and apparently also Luna had control over. 

The cultists, as worshippers of Nyarlathotep, saw his pets, Harry and Draco, and technically-relative, Luna, akin to angels, thus had pledged fealty to them. Harry didn’t quite know what to think of that, as it was eerily similar to the situation with Voldemort and his Death Eaters-- they even wore hooded cloaks! Not that that was the key similarity-- it was more the unwavering loyalty, the fact that Harry could ask them to do literally anything and they would do it delightedly without question. Well, it worked for the battle, at least-- they were eerily skilled with those magic weapons, and were making a fair dent on the nightgaunts alone, which was great because earthly wizard magic seemed ineffective and the cats and snakes were too low to the ground to reach the flying buggers, meaning the only other things that could reach were the potions creatures.

But wait! Was it? Harry focused, and shot a bolt of lightning at the nearest nightgaunt-- felling it. He cheered at the cleverness, then ran around finding the students he knew could use nature magic, instructing them to focus on fighting the nightgaunts with that, moving at a pace much faster than a human. Surely some of the aurors had caught on by now that he and Draco weren’t human.

One thing missing from the battle, Harry noted, was Voldemort himself and his snake, Nagini. Clearly, he had set up base somewhere, to watch from the sidelines until needed-- though there was no doubt he wouldn’t be far. Most likely, he was waiting for the troops to reduce, so he could confront Harry himself. Harry sent a group of the smaller snakes, potions creatures, and cats to investigate the surrounding area.

Luckily, the Old Gods, Outer Gods, Great Ones, Old Ones, whatever Yig was, and similar had decided to stay out of the battle-- if they fought with them, both sides would be quickly obliterated, and the deity-like entities fighting each other would most likely cause the destruction of the planet, or at the very least Britain and the surrounding areas.

The sun fully set, and howls could be heard as the full moon appeared and the werewolves transformed, including Remus; it seemed all had taken wolfsbane, though, so became tamer, less-deadly wolves whom wouldn’t attack their allies-- not that that mattered much, as the teeth and claws were still deadly in general, even if not as pointy and large.

A low buzzing sounded, as another cloud descended from the sky. The battle briefly froze as people assessed the newcomers-- whose side were they on? Clearly they weren’t from Earth, but they weren’t Dreamlands creatures, either… they were strange fungal-like creatures, large and vaguely pink-colored, human-sized and vaguely human-shaped yet with many crab-like appendages, and where a head would be instead lay a pyramid of fleshy rings covered in antennae. They descended on small fleshy, membrous, bat-like wings, though seemed unable to actually fly with these in the gravity of earth, merely slow their descent. For they indeed were not of Earth: they were the Mi-Go, a race native to Pluto whom could fly through space and the low gravity of their native world; it was also well-known that they worshipped Nyarlathotep. As they landed, they began to attack Voldemort’s troops, and the battle rapidly resumed.

At the same moment, a horde of house-elves emerged from Hogwarts, led by Dobby and Winky-- the numbers of their army were close to that of Voldemort’s, now, it seemed.

The ibians and ghouls went down fairly easily, as expected. They were armed with knives, daggers, and other such weapons, but were unaccustomed to fighting and their bodies weren’t built for such exertion. The nightgaunts were formidable, though. They weren’t that powerful, but they flew with skill, easily dodging attacks to slash with their claws, though their preferred method of killing or injuring seemed to be grabbing people and dropping them from great heights. The cultists and wielders of nature-magic did their best to focus on taking out the nightgaunts immediately upon grabbing someone, but it was impossible to catch them all. On occasion a cushioning charm helped if someone noticed in time, but as most wizards were fighting their own enemies, not everyone could be caught in time.

“Selardi! What the bloody hell are you doing!” Draco yelled, noticing his cat casually walking out into the middle of the battlefield. No, not just Selardi… other cats were following, forming a large circle throughout the field. Selardi was obviously leading them, but what were they doing?

“Draco, pay attention!” Harry yelled, briefly pulling up a mound of earth to block a spell about to hit the blonde, then retaliating with an “expelliarmus”. The Death Eater's wand flew from their hand.

Within seconds, the Death Eater had a runespoor on him, fangs driven deep into the neck, releasing poison. _“That’ll teach you to mess with my friends!”_ Apollo hissed vehemently.

Harry gasped. “Draco, I have an idea. Remember that ritual to open a portal, which could be used to summon the shantaks here?”

“What, the one Voldemort used to get all these things here?”

“Yeah. Well, the variant Nyarlathotep told us about. The snake poison takes a bit to kill them, but is fatal… couldn’t we use a few of them to do the ritual before they die, as the sacrifices? I mean, they’d die anyway, right? Why not make them useful?”

“Er. Yes, I suppose,” Draco acknowledged reluctantly.

“Right. Let’s do it. Grab a couple, let’s head over there… Oh! Luna! Can you-- wait a second, are those wings?”

“Yes! Nyarlathotep gave me them! I’m immortal now. The first angel ever! He modelled it after the things the muggles created. I mean, it’s not the same as that, but the wings are!”

“Wings, yes. Tiny pointed horns, though, are more of the opposite of angelic,” Draco chuckled.

“But they’re sparkly horns, like a unicorn’s! And look, I have fangs, too!”

“Right… ah, can you help us gather dying Death Eaters? Not dead ones, they have to be still alive, but going to die, from snake venom and such. We’re apparently going to sacrifice them to summon a shantak.”

“Okay! Wait, why dying? Can’t we just take regular ones? They’re our enemies.”

“Yes, but we still have morals, somewhat!” Harry yelled. “Just, bring them over there, and start the ritual. We’re going to go to the Dreamlands really quick, me and Draco.”

“Wait, we are?”

“Yes. I’ll take us, then you’ll find Shurash-ho and I’ll find a shantak; Shurash-ho can be apparated out like normal, unlike the bird. I’ll come through the portal Luna makes, there should be enough time to bring one, possibly two birds over before it closes.”

“But how do I know where to put the portal?” Luna asked worriedly.

“There’s specific points it can show up; just say ‘Leng’ for the place in the ritual chant.”

 

*******

 

Meanwhile, Blaise and Neville found themselves at the Shrieking Shack, led there by Crookshanks. There, from behind an old vent, they saw a ghastly scene.

"You informed me they had little contact with the creatures!” Voldemort hissed. “Instead, they are leading armies granted to them by such! Snakes from Yig, and those strange crab-beasts, and cultists who worship them as though they are subordinates of their deity!”

“My Lord, I assure you, I was unaware--”

“Crucio!”

Snake pressed his teeth together, attempting not to scream from pain. “M-my Lord, please, I swear…”

“No. You have betrayed me. I should have destroyed you after that fight in the Dreamlands, rather than given you a second chance; no, that was your fourth chance already. You will not get a fifth. I was a fool to keep believing you.”

Voldemort said something to Nagini. She struck Snape. Satisfied, he left her to it, and apparated away.

Neville and Blaise gasped in horror as the snake struck over and over; they quickly burst out of the vent, shooting spells at the snake in an attempt to save Snape, but they just bounced off! Protections must have been put on her. She slithered towards them, backing them into a corner…

“Grarough!!” Just as they thought they were done for, a trio of teddy bears with vicious claws, two flaming rats-- spreading fire everywhere-- and a flying squid burst into the room, chasing the violently-hissing snake out the other door.

Neville and Blaise ran over to Snape to assess the damage.

“Don’t worry; I think I know enough healing magic to fix this,” Neville assured the man.

Snape shook his head. “No. It’s more than just a bite; remember what happened to Arthur Weasley when attacked by her? She has bitten me much more than she did to him. There’s no time to save me.”

“Then we’ll take you to St. Mungo’s!” Blaise insisted.

Snape coughed; the room was filling with smoke from the fires the rats had set. “Didn’t you listen?” he croaked. “I’m done for. You can’t apparate out due to the wards he put here, and carrying me out will be too slow-- you’ll perish in the flames if you try! Please, go. Save yourselves.

“But--”

“GO!” Snape coughed. “Please…” Snape closed his eyes, his breathing and heart slowing.

Neville ran a diagnostic spell. “He’s right,” the boy whispered, coughing a little. The room was feeling awfully warm. “Blaise, he has a few minutes, at most… it’s too late…”

“Yes,” Blaise acknowledged sadly, then coughed too. “Neville, the fire’s spreading-- we need to leave, now.”

 

*******

 

“Have you seen Harry at all?” Hermione asked Ron, panicked. “I can’t find him anywhere! Nor Draco!”

“Yeah, about that… it wouldn’t have anything to do with Luna doing some sacrificial ritual over there, would it?”

“A… what?” Hermione grabbed Ron and dashed over to Luna with him. “What the heck are you doing?!”

“It’s okay, they’re dying of snake venom anyway. Harry said to make them useful. He went to find some shantaks, he’s waiting in the Dreamlands for me to open the portal… I just need to wait for the bodies to-- oh, there they go, I better start chanting again.”

Hermione and Ron watched in horror as the Death Eaters’ bodies flew up and spun in a circle as Luna chanted. They glowed, and something came out of them-- their souls. The bodies fell, and the souls merged, creating a bright light… then, a hole in space opened, the Dreamlands visible through it, something flying towards the opening, which was already closing…

“Thanks, Luna!” Harry called, zipping through the portal riding one of the monstrous shantak birds, a second following. A third tried to get through, too, but the portal closed on it-- it squawked loudly in pain, cut clean in two, a huge pool of blood quickly seeped from the half of the elephant-sized creature that made it to Earth, covering the ritual area; there would be no more portal creation unless they made a whole new circle, which they had no time for. Harry looped around the battlefield on the giant bird, then landed the shantak next to Luna with a loud thud, sliding off and letting it loose, upon which it immediately attacked-- and began eating-- one of the acromantulas whom had decided to join the battle and were merely revelling in the carnage rather than taking a side.

“Where’s Draco?” asked Ron. “You’re never separated…”

“He’ll be a few more minutes probably; he’s searching for Shurash-ho… oh, fuck.”

“Harry!” Hermione chided the use of such foul language, then turned to where Harry was staring. “Oh. Fuck is right.”

“What the bloody hell is that?!” Demanded Ron.

“A gug…” Luna whispered in horror. The battle seemed to freeze as everyone watched the thing emerge from the portal Voldemort had just created. It seemed the dark wizard had had the same idea as them-- using the dying bodies to create portals.

“Well, we have two shantaks!” Harry insisted. “They can take it…”

“You have us, too!” Someone shouted from above them, and a gigantic Dragon landed beside them, causing Ron and Hermione to scream in surprise. Draco hopped off it. “Hermione, Ron, meet Shurash-ho!”

The dragon-like Old One nodded at the two in recognition, then launched into the air, directly towards the gug-- luckily, only one had been able to get through the portal.

Harry then gasped as he saw, nearby, a slashing spell hit Kingsley, felling him. The spell had landed in such a spot that it was obvious nothing would save him in time. The Death Eater whom had struck him down, Crabbe, was laughing-- until he noticed Harry looking, upon which he stormed over, face angry. Harry backed up slightly.

“You!” Crabbe bellowed. “You got my son killed! You and your damn beasts! The Dark Lord may want to finish you off himself, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to have some fun, first! Cru--” He never finished the curse, for he was struck down by two simultaneous stunning spells, then tackled by a werewolf.

“Thanks, guys,” Harry smiled at the team-- Sirius, McGonagall, and of course, Remus. His face quickly fell. “Watch out!” he called, shooting balls of fire past them, incinerating a group of nightgaunts whom had gotten much too close in their distraction. The three ran back into the fray, Sirius leaping into his dog-form to fight that way.

“What the hell are the cats doing?!” Draco demanded again. “Look, they’re just walking through everything randomly, not even fighting or anything…”

“Er. Draco? They’re doing a bit more than that,” Harry commented. “Look in their mouths…”

“Wait… are those... pieces of dead things?!”

“Yeah; they’re making some sort of pattern with blood…”

“I think we should get all our allies away from there,” Luna said calmly. “They probably don’t want to be in the middle of the circle.”

Thus, the five began dashing around, making sure anyone on their side got out of the way…

“What the bloody hell is going on?” Fred panted; he and George had been the last to get out of the way.

“We’re not sure, but the cats seem to be doing something…”

Upon that note, the cats stopped, ending up in a circle. They began to chant something in the language of the cats, and the large summoning circle began to glow a purple-red. Those on the opposing side who hadn’t yet realized the others had fled seemed frozen in place, except the nightgaunts who just flew away unaffected. The cats were quiet, and Selardi said the final bit. A bright light shone, and a figure appeared in the center of the circle as the glow faded. It almost looked like a dementor, in a black hooded cloak with no visible face, with a vage mist around it, though it stood on two feet… and held a humongous scythe. The being held the scythe straight out and spun in a circle, easily severing in two each of the frozen Death Eaters, ghouls, and ibians left in the circle.

Selardi had proven she was indeed Death’s familiar, for she had summoned him.

Both sides had stopped, all watching the cloaked figure-- but it didn’t attack, rather headed to the forest while talking to Selardi. Everyone fighting looked around, almost seeming to collectively shrug… then a vicious screech was heard as the gug bit into the wing of one of the shantak birds, entirely silent as it did so-- for gugs are silent hunters, having no voice-- and the battle began anew.

Harry, Luna, and Draco dashed into the fray, foregoing wands to instead use the nature and cosmic magic they possessed-- for Luna too now had a great amount of cosmic magic, being the ‘angel’ Nyarlathotep made her. They dispatched quite a few, then paled as they realized Voldemort had opened yet another portal, summoning even more nightgaunts. Were there an endless supply of them or something? Another gug tried to get through as well, but was cut-off halfway, as Harry’s third shantak had been. Well, good-- that ritual circle was defunct now too, meaning he couldn’t summon again without taking the time to make one.

Suddenly, a large mass of creatures began dashing out of the forest-- centaurs. No, not just centaurs… fauns, too. And satyrs. And… was that a minotaur? Along with a myriad of deer, wild boars, and probably all the cows, goats, pigs, horses, and sheep from the neighboring villages. Led by Mindy… no, not Mindy. Faunus. Right now, she was here in her role of Faunus, ancient minor god of the forest, ruler of all hooved creatures. Shiki was beside her, holding her hand-- whether she had known who her girlfriend really was before this, Harry did not know.

Dumbledore, meanwhile, was engaged in a battle with Voldemort himself; the snake, Nagini, final horcrux, was not dead yet, but someone had to distract the Dark Lord from summoning more things!

The three fanged teddy-bears, part of the potion creature group sent to find Nagini’s location and then report back, emerged from the base of the whomping willow-- now crushed to pieces somehow-- one holding the Sword of Gryffindor, and the other two holding the head of Nagini. How they had gotten the sword was a mystery, but it worked.

“You’ve lost, Tom,” Dumbledore told him tritely. “All your horcruxes are finished. You are once again fully mortal.”

Voldemort grinned, glancing at something behind Dumbledore’s shoulder. “So are you.”

Dumbledore swerved around, dodging out of the way of a night-gaunt. As the turned to again face Voldemort, another night-gaunt appeared on his other side, snatching the old wizard’s wand away. The Dark Lord, with a vicious smile, whispered his signature curse, and in a flash of green light, Dumbledore collapsed to the ground, unmoving.

“No!!” Harry called, from the other side of the battlefield. That tared it; the battle had to end. His state of rage triggered something, and he felt the gem of his navel-ring shatter. Huge membranous wings shot out of Harry’s shoulders; barely processing this, he took off, barrelling towards the Dark Lord.

Draco called out to Harry, but his boyfriend had already left. So that was how it would be? Draco was not going to let Harry have all the fun now! If Harry could have wings, so could he-- and he did. He called out in surprise as the amulet’s gem shattered too, and large membranous ones sprouted from his back, but instead of the dark green ones Harry had, they were a silvery grey. Draco rolled his eyes. Matching their eyes. Of course that would be the case. He grabbed Luna’s hand, and the two flew off.

Harry landed in front of Voldemort, eyes blazing. “I think it’s time for you to die now, Tom.”

“Don’t you dare call me that!” Voldemort growled. “You may be powerful. My wizard magic may not work on you. But I know your weaknesses! And I have the perfect weapon for it!” He pulled from his robes a familiar staff with a large red gem on top, flinging it towards Harry, and a beam of light shot at him. Harry tried to dodge, but the beam curved, hitting its target. Harry screamed in pain.

Voldemort sneered. “Ten times worse than crucio, and effective on beasts like you. Yes… I think I’ll play around with you a bit before killing you. I like you like this. But perhaps I won’t kill you… if you swear fealty to me.”

“Never,” Harry hissed. “B-besides, you kill me, and this world dies, including all your plans.”

Voldemort stopped the pain curse, and frowned. “What do you mean by that?” he demanded.

Harry shakily stood. “Oh, don’t you know? I’m good friends with the Outer God Nyarlathotep. He even gave me this collar here. He gets very, very angry when his special creatures are destroyed. There used to be life on Mars, you know. Really really long ago. Guess who destroyed it when he got pissed off? Yeah, you really don’t want to mess with him…”

“You bluff!”

“Do you really want to take that risk?”

“There is no risk. If it comes down to it, I can handle one more beast. Now, where was I…?” Voldemort held up the staff. “Oh, right, causing you pain… Stop grinning!” the staff crackled with energy, then fell to the ground as Voldemort cried out in pain, clawing at his neck, but someone grabbed his hands.

Draco had latched his fangs onto the Dark Lord, and Luna was making sure he stayed on… oh. Actually, she was joining in, it seemed. Harry watched in surprise. Should he say something taunting? Yes.

“You’re finished, Tom. How’s it feel, to die by the hands of the ‘beasts’ you created?”

Tom Riddle tried to say something, but it faded as his eyes rolled back and his body went limp.

“You want a turn? He’s not quite dead yet; it only feels right you should finish him,” Draco grinned. Luna unlatched her fangs too, and they tossed Riddle over to Harry.

“You know, I think I will. I am rather hungry after all this fighting.” Harry dug his fangs deep into Riddle’s neck, but didn’t tear it like he had with Bellatrix; he left a nice neat mark right in the middle of the neck, to be even with the one on each side from Draco and Luna, both spots dripping with small dribbles of blood. He sucked hard, draining every last bit he could from the dark wizard, feeling the moment when his life fully ended. 

“I say we make the announcement dramatic,” Draco suggested excitedly, slightly high from all the blood. Few had actually seen what had occurred, as they were on the edge of the battlefield and everyone was caught in the fray.

Harry, Draco, and Luna flew five meters up, Harry dangling Riddle’s body by the wrist in front of him, feeling courageous and cocky after all that blood. He dug his wand from his pocket and used a ‘sonorus’ charm so all could hear.

“The Dark Lord is dead!” he announced, Luna and Draco on either side of him, their arms crossed, looking tough, using air magic under their wings so the three of them appeared to fly without needing to flap them. “Voldemort is no more! Stand down if you want to live!”

“Meow!” came a sound from below him. Selardi was there, Death standing next to her. She talked to Harry about what would happen.

Harry turned back to the crowd. “Er. Change of plans! Death is offended at how Voldemort, and apparently by extension his followers, mocked him. So, sorry, but you’re all going to die.”

As Harry landed and removed the charm, the basilisk, who had slithered over while he was talking, locked eyes with him. _“May I eat Riddle’s body?”_ she asked.

 _“Er. Sure. Seems fair.”_ He tossed Riddle to the basilisk, then turned to Death. “Er. You’re not mad at us, too, are you? Since we’re kinda, well, immortal.”

Death looked at him-- well, he was veiled, but his head was turned the right way-- and conveyed the information without speaking. Immortal merely means the potential to live forever, as their bodies will not die naturally; however, they, as all beings, even gods, could be killed by other means. Horcruxes prevented even that, which was definitely cheating him. Now, he had to go kill those Death Eaters before they could run away, thank you very much.

Of course, despite Death running around killing all the Death Eaters, there were still all the other creatures to contend with. Of the Dreamlands creatures, the ghouls and night-gaunts were running around confused without a leader, but the gug was... oh, the gug was just taken down by the other shantak bird, nice job. Then there were still some giants... well, looks like Shurash-ho and the hooved creatures were finishing that up. The acromantulas, however, were… now being chased back into the forest by the basilisk and a horde of snakes of all sizes. 

As things finally settled, Harry pulled in his wings-- thankfully he could, to his relief-- and looked around for those he knew, preparing for the worst. He’d already witnessed Dumbledore, Kingsley, and two of his three shantak birds die-- there was no chance in hell, or any world really, that they’d have been the only ones to have perished.

Hermione and Ron were still by the portal, making out in celebration. Neville and Blaise seemed to be hobbling back to the battle, covered in ash and coughing-- off in the distance, the Shrieking Shack could be seen completely ablaze. Fred, George, and dog-Sirius were gathered around Remus, who was lying on the ground in his wolf form-- Harry’s heart gave a jolt, but Remus lifted his head to nuzzle Sirius, whom barked as though laughing; it seemed his injuries weren’t fatal. McGonagall, who seemed to be nursing an arm injury, was gathered with some of the other professors; all the ones he knew well seemed accounted for, except Snape. Sprout and Pomfrey were rushing about with a group of healers from St. Mungos, assessing the injured and working on the more vital cases.

Then, Harry’s heart sank at the first casualty he noted, other than those seen during the battle: Hagrid was near his hut, which was also ablaze, he and Apollo lamenting over the body of their beloved dog, Fang, being comforted by Shiki and Mindy. As Harry, Draco, and Luna began to head there, they noticed another group of people, mostly red-headed, in tears. Charlie, Mr. Weasley, Percy-- whom seemed to be in their good favor after opting to come fight-- Bill, and Fleur stood sharing tearful hugs, next to someone whom seemed to be unmoving. 

“No,” Harry gasped, as they reached the group. The person, in a pool of blood and clearly dead, most likely from being dropped by a nightgaunt, was none other than Mrs. Weasley. Silent tears streamed down his face. Draco grabbed his hand tightly; Harry turned to see tears on his face, as well. Harry scooched close to Draco, leaning into him.

“Mum!!” came a distraught cry, as Ron dashed over, standing there in disbelieving shock. Hearing his call, Fred and George came running over too; George seemed to be missing an ear, though as magic had been able to stop the bleeding it must have been from one of the clawed or sworded creatures rather than from dark magic or a werewolf.

Harry’s hearing picked up another weeping sound, a bit further away. He dashed over to find yet another tragic scene: Dobby, surrounded by a group of elves, held the body of Winky in his arms, sobbing over her.

Others he had known, albeit not as well, had also died: Lavender Brown-- whom was Ron’s former girlfriend; Colin Creevey-- whom, though underage, had snuck back in to fight; one of the Patil twins-- whose sister was clutching her body and wailing; Babbling-- Professor of Ancient Runes; Scrimgeour-- the Minister of Magic, whom had decided to fight in his capacity of ex-auror; Hestia Jones and Dedalus Diggle-- members of the Order; Hannah Abbott and Ernie MacMillan-- Hufflepuffs in their year and DA members; Pansy Parkinson-- who seemed to have decided defending the school took priority over her dislike of many others fighting; and Terry Boot, a Ravenclaw in their year and a DA member.

There were many other bodies around, too, of people and creatures Harry hadn’t known, or barely knew. They had won the war, yes, but the cost had been high. The aurors had lost a considerable amount, including most of their senior ones. A fair number of cats had been killed-- Harry wondered how many were pets of students. Bodies of satyrs, fauns, hooved animals, elves, snakes, and mi-go lay scattered around, too.

And of course, there were all the bodies from the opposing side, too, including giants, acromantulas, nightgaunts, ghouls, the gug, Death Eaters, werewolves, and ibians.

“Where’s Snape?” Harry asked, looking around, as Blaise and Neville joined them.

“Ah, about that…” Blaise looked at them sadly, then relayed the story.

Harry nodded sadly. “He was a brave man, loyal until the very end.”

Hogwarts would have a tough time sorting everything out; three professors and the headmaster had died, after all. The Ministry, as well, would have it rough, with the Minister and half their auror force gone. The aftermath would possibly be more difficult than the battle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Aftermath and the future plans of our protagonists. The final chapter!
> 
> Expect it tomorrow. :)


	32. To the Future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "There is in certain ancient things a trace  
> Of some dim essence—more than form or weight;  
> A tenuous aether, indeterminate,  
> Yet linked with all the laws of time and space.  
> A faint, veiled sign of continuities  
> That outward eyes can never quite descry;  
> Of locked dimensions harbouring years gone by,  
> And out of reach except for hidden keys.
> 
> It moves me most when slanting sunbeams glow  
> On old farm buildings set against a hill,  
> And paint with life the shapes which linger still  
> From centuries less a dream than this we know.  
> In that strange light I feel I am not far  
> From the fixt mass whose sides the ages are."
> 
> \--H.P. Lovecraft, "Fungii from Yuggoth, XXXVI: Continuity"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here it is: the final chapter. I hope you find it a satisfying conclusion!

A week later, McGonagall, newly appointed Headmistress, requested to see Draco, Luna, and Harry in her office. The remaining classes had all been cancelled, yet most students had stayed or returned for the last few weeks of school, mostly to attend the ceremonies for their friends and family, many of the deceased which were being granted posthumous Order of Merlins of various classes. Individual funerals were mostly private, except for Dumbledore’s-- his funeral and entombment were at Hogwarts as he’d wished it. All funerals for those who had fought were funded by the Ministry and with donations from many of the wealthier families. Everyone had been affected in some way or another, many of whom would have permanent wounds, whether physical or mental. Harry wanted desperately to just curl up into a ball and forget about everything, but he, as one of the three heros who had defeated Voldemort, had to stay strong and put up a solid front. Which, to his surprise and relief, he was actually managing well, although how much was due to the lingering numbness brought on by the shock of it all he did not know.

“Harry, Draco, Luna,” McGonagall acknowledged as they entered the Headmaster’s office, so far unchanged since Dumbledore occupied it, making Harry’s heart ache. 

“What’s this about?” Harry asked curiously, honestly having no idea why they’d been called there. Neither did the other two.

“I’m aware you have a press conference soon,” McGonagall began, so I’ll get straight to the point. As you’re aware, we’re rather short-staffed as of now. As announced yesterday, Hogwarts is going to be closed for a year while we work to fill these positions and to allow students time to mourn and recover. I was wondering what your plans for the future are, if you’ve considered them at all? Do you still plan to teach?”

“Well, yes, I still am planning to teach, after taking a break to recover from everything, probably in the Dreamlands, once my obligations with ceremonies and things are done,” Harry told her, realizing what she was getting at. “But not traditional students. Rather, those who are barred from attending traditional wizarding school-- that is, creatures and part-creatures with wizard-magic.”

McGonagall nodded. “And where do you plan on teaching them?”

“Well, at first it would be at their homes, as a private tutor, but someday I wish to perhaps open my own school.”

McGonagall smiled broadly, an unusual sight on her. “Well, then, how would you like to use part of Hogwarts for such?”

Harry gaped at her, taking a moment to respond. “What?” Not the most eloquent response, true, but he was honestly so surprised he was amazed he had even managed to get that much out.

“We have plenty of spare classrooms. It wouldn’t be difficult to sequester part of the castle off for dorms and classrooms for such. I have spoken already to the remaining professors, and they are not opposed to helping teach them. Initially their classes would be separate, but the long-term goal would be to slowly integrate them into classes with the general student body-- some of least dangerous part-humans perhaps immediately, ones like part-veela which have already been integrated into other schools and are more accepted into British wizarding society.”

Harry looked at her in wonder. This was better than he had ever imagined! “So, I would be the one in charge of them?” Harry asked.

McGonagall nodded. “You would be their head-of-house, essentially. However, in addition, I would like you to take up the Defense against the Dark Arts position.”

“Because the curse won’t affect me?”

“Because you are the best one for the job, especially with your knowledge of how dark magic comes in different types and can be both good and bad-- yes, I am willing to acknowledge that,” she said, seeing their surprise. “Not to speak ill of the dead, but Albus could be rather close-minded on some things. Also, the curse is gone now that Voldemort is dead, is it not? That is what Luna has told me.”

“Yes, it is gone. Can’t you feel its absence?” Luna asked.

Harry tilted his head, concentrating on locating the magic. “You’re right. It’s gone.”

“So, do you accept?” McGonagall asked. She appeared calm, but her aura was nervous.

“Well… I want to, but what will all the parents think? Everyone knows I’m not exactly human now, and a dangerous one at that. It’ll be like Lupin, not Hagrid or Firenze, who are more accepted.” The Daily Prophet had, in fact, reported on it two days prior, speculating on exactly what he was, and reporters had since been hounding him on it.

“I think you will find that, despite your status as a non-human, the fact that you defeated the Dark Lord has overridden that in the minds of most. For all three of you. You did notice the Prophet’s tone about it was more neutral rather than negative, correct?”

Harry thought for a moment. He actually had noticed that. And in terms of the Prophet, neutral was equivalent to positive on such a subject. “I suppose… the letters I got weren’t as bad as expected, either. Some were bad, but they were mostly praise for defeating Voldemort rather than commentary on my species.”

“Exactly. And before you ask, I have also spoken to the Wizengamot about this, and they have agreed to try this out, as well as lift some of the added war sanctions, especially upon seeing how many creatures helped us win the battle.”

“Take the position,” Draco encouraged. “It’s perfect for you. What you’ve wanted to do. If things don’t work out, they don’t work out, but it’s worth a try, right?”

“I suppose.” Harry smiled broadly at the Headmistress. “Okay. I accept the offer.”

“Brilliant! I already have the paperwork in order; you just need to sign.”

Harry laughed a little. “I take it you knew I would take the position, then… okay, where do I sign?”

As Harry was signing the paperwork, Draco spoke up. “Might I ask why Luna and I are here?”

“Ah, yes. Well, I have a similar proposition for you, Draco: Professor Slughorn wishes to return to retirement now; Albus had apparently assured him he would only be needed for one year, and barely convinced him to stay a second. Would you like the potions position?”

Draco looked at her in shock. “Me? But I have no experience teaching, unlike Harry, and don’t even know if I got my NEWT or not!”

McGonagall smiled. “But you plan to soon spend a very long time in the Dreamlands comparatively, correct? Being there a month or so in our time is many years there. That’s plenty of time to complete a Mastery, which isn’t even required to teach.”

“I suppose…” Draco said skeptically.

“What did you just tell me?” Harry asked Draco. “‘If things don’t work out, they don’t work out, but it’s worth a try, right?’”

Draco gave a small smile. “True. I would be a hypocrite if I went against that now. Okay, I’ll take the position-- but no guarantee I’ll stay more than a year!”

“That’s fair. Now, Luna, I have a similar offer for you.”

Luna looked at McGonagall in abject confusion. She still had horns on her head-- she could retract her wings, but not those. “But I’m still in school? Aren’t I?”

McGonagall chuckled. “Yes, you’re still in school. It wouldn’t be teaching. You have an uncanny ability to recognize what people are and their innate personalities, as well as can judge their auras.” It had taken a while, but Luna had finally grasped that the strange ‘creatures’ she could see were actually reflections of people's auras. “Therefore, I would like you to work with us on the integration aspect, judging which are ready to attend classes with human students and helping those who are not ready learn to be. A counselor, essentially.”

“Well, I would get to stay with Harry and Draco, so I suppose I can try it out,” Luna said cheerfully.

“Good. Oh, one caveat, though: you would need to promise to stop selling drugs to students.”

“Well, I suppose I could do that too…”

McGonagall sighed in relief. “You don’t know how much this helps me. Now there’s only Transfiguration and Ancient Runes to fill, which should have plenty of applicants.”

“You won’t be teaching Transfiguration anymore?” Harry asked.

“No, I will have Headmistress duties to attend to; teaching in addition will be too much.”

“What about Snape’s job?” Draco asked.

“We will be discontinuing it. The Wizengamot has decided it is too risky a subject to teach in school, as well as something they do not wish to be easily learnt by just anyone who wants to, thus are changing it back to a post-graduate training course specifically for those it is deemed necessary for; it seems even allowing it in the first place was done as a favor to Dumbledore.”

Harry nodded. “Makes sense. So, four new teachers… wow.”

“Yes, it is a lot,” McGonagall agreed. “And in another few years, Pomona Sprout plans to retire, as well-- she is training Neville to take the position upon gaining his Mastery.”

“He’s agreed to it?”

“He is on the fence, according to Pomona, though she is certain she can convince him.”

“So that’s… almost half our friend group who will be working here,” Draco said in awe.

“I am aware. It is a good thing, I believe; it is best for professors to get along. Speaking of your friend group, what are the others planning to do? Perhaps Granger would want to teach?” She asked hopefully.

Harry shook his head. “No. She’s bent on going into magical law, with a focus on advocacy of creature-rights. Ron will be assisting her.” Ron had become disenchanted with the idea of being an auror after the battle. He’d had enough of fighting.

McGonagall nodded. “A noble cause. And what about Adrian Pucey? You are still in contact with him, correct? He was excellent at Transfiguration…”

“Er. Yes, but he is using it for… other things. In the, er, ‘adult entertainment’ industry. And really likes the job.”

McGonagall blushed slightly. “I see. Well, how about Blaise Zabini? He has done well in Ancient Runes, and it is difficult to find professors for such, as most who continue the study prefer to do curse-breaking, archeology, or translation…”

“Ah, Blaise already has a job, sort-of...” Draco divulged. Suddenly, something caught his eye, hanging on the wall-- a good change of topic. “You got the Sword of Gryffindor back!”

“Hmm? Ah, yes, the bears returned it, though I’m still not at all sure how they got it in the first place.”

“What happened to the bears, anyway?” Harry asked. “Do you know?” Most the potions creatures had been destroyed in the battle, the bears being one of the exceptions, though most of them had fled to who-knows-where afterwards. Not that he was worried-- they could be summoned if needed.

“Ah, yes. It seems they desire to work with Hagrid, as something akin to guard-dogs of the castle. He has done an astounding job taming them.”

“Right. Taming them.” Harry suspected they weren’t exactly tamed in the traditional sense of the word; they just seemed to be oddly enamoured with the castle. But, hey, if they wanted to protect it, who were they to stop them? It was a good thing to do, after all.

 

*******

 

“I love you,” Harry muttered, biting Draco’s lip slightly to taste the blood.

“And I love you too, my kitten,” Draco cooed. “Hmm… someone’s here already, it seems.”

Harry withdrew from Draco. “Oh, Luna. You’re early!”

“Don’t stop because of me,” Luna complained.

“Luna, did you purposely come early to watch us kissing?” Draco teased liltingly.

“Well, I was hoping for more…” Luna glided over to the cabinet to find some firewhiskey.

Harry’s mouth curved into a small grin. “Of course you did… well, unfortunately, that won’t come until later-- the others will be arriving soon, and I don’t think they’ll want to see us doing that. Especially Ron.”

“Oh, he needs to get over it,” Luna pouted, plopping down in between the two and opening the bottle.

“So, were you serious about stopping selling drugs?” Harry inquired curiously, taking the bottle of firewhiskey from Luna after she took a swig herself. He honestly doubted she would stop, but she wouldn’t lie to McGonagall either, would she?

“Of course. Blaise pays me enough to give things to him; so, the students can have them for free.”

“...Not quite sure if that’s what McGonagall-- I mean, Minerva, meant,” Draco chuckled. Now that they were going to be professors, Minerva insisted upon first names. It felt strange to say, after seven years of knowing her as ‘Professor McGonagall’. “I ask again; are you sure you don’t belong in Slytherin?”

“Hmm. Well, the hat actually had trouble reading my mind, to be honest,” Luna admitted. “So I asked to be in Ravenclaw, because I liked the colors best.”

“The hat agreed to that?” Harry asked incredulously.

“Of course. Oh, and Scarfy didn’t know what to do with me, either, of course….”

“Scarfy?”

“The Scarf of Sexual Preference.”

“The Scarf of… Sexual Preference?” Draco asked, incredulously.

“Luna, that doesn’t exist,” Harry told her.

“It doesn’t?” Luna looked very confused. “Oh… I suppose that makes sense. If it did, Harry wouldn’t have tried to like girls so much, since he would have known from the start he didn’t want to be monogamous with one.”

“...Right. Okay, enough of that,” Harry asserted. “Let’s put the music on; the others will be here soon… 

“Our last Hogwarts party...” Draco marvelled, swigging some firewhiskey.

“Well, last with this group, most likely,” Luna pointed out. “But I’m sure there will be many other parties, since the three of us are staying here, after all.”

“True, very true,” Harry agreed with a smile, pressing play.

_“Like a true nature’s child / We were born, born to be wild / We can climb so high / I never want to die!”_

Soon, the three were joined by the rest of their crew still at Hogwarts: Blaise, Hermione, Ron, and Neville. Blaise immediately conjured seven shot glasses, then pulled out a bag with a familiar powder. He mixed a little bit into each shot he poured, one glass for each-- as it was the last evening of school, even the two who had always refused the nyx actually accepted the glasses Blaise offered them.

Blaise raised his glass. “A toast: To the future!”

“To the future!!” Glasses clinked, followed by a silence as everyone downed their shots together.

“Meow!” agreed Selardi, Crookshanks, and Mrs Norris.

 

*******  
*******

 

Harry perched on the top of the castle, surveying the Hogwarts grounds, of which the fanged teddy-bears patrolled the outskirts. A group of fauns played on the edge of the Forbidden-Forest-- well, it wasn’t really so ‘forbidden’ now, seeing as they allowed certain species of students free-reign of it. The moon was out, and the yips and howls of the pair of fifth-year werewolves-- both on wolfsbane, of course-- could be heard in the forest. A group of humans and a young vampire relaxed in the pumpkin patch, perched on the giant pumpkins, sharing stories. A werecat teased her cynocephalic friend from a tree. A couple of seventh-year humans and their nekomata boyfriend cuddled on the stands of the quidditch stadium, watching one of the teams practice. A couple of selkies laughed by the lake as they played catch with the giant squid-- the squid Harry had constructed from a potion long ago, now grown.

Harry flew down to the lower rooftop, where Draco and Luna sat, with a purring Selardi and Mrs Norris, and cuddled up to them.

“Can you believe it’s finally happened?” Draco marvelled. “Just look at them. All perfectly happy together.”

Harry shook his head in wonder. “To think, two centuries ago we wondered if it would ever be possible. Now, they stare in disbelief when told it was once illegal for humans and non-humans to attend school together!”

“You know, if you think about it, Voldemort is the one who actually made this all possible,” Luna mused.

“What do you mean?” Draco asked curiously.

“Well, essentially everything stems from him having you turned, does it not? And if you hadn’t been turned, Harry would have--”

“Okay, Luna, best not to talk about that here,” Harry warned her. “Remember; some of the students have pretty sharp ears.”

“Hmm. I suppose that’s true.”

“Mom? Dads?” a small voice sounded. A part-kitsune just a year shy of starting Hogwarts appeared from the corner of the roof as she climbed on. She had been orphaned as a baby, left at Hogwarts’ doorstep; when no one had claimed her, the three of them had decided to raise her.

“Kell!” Draco chided. “You know non-fliers are not permitted on the higher rooves!”

“Yes, but it’s important. You see, I found this bracelet, and it won’t come off… it has some sort of odd power, and weird symbols on it that I can’t find in any book…”

“Let me see.” Harry took her wrist, gently examining the symbols. Yes, they definitely would not be in any book, though they were very familiar… Harry showed them to Draco, who then looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

“I think he’s watching us,” Luna commented vaguely.

Draco and Harry both sighed. “NYARLATHOTEP!” They called together.

A dark shadow under some nearby eaves took form, becoming a vague humanoid shape before solidifying into a familiar pharaoh whom they hadn’t seen since the evening after the Battle of Hogwarts. 

“What did you do to our daughter?” Harry demanded.

For the first time, the pharaoh smiled, that too-wide smile found on many of his other forms. “What, did you really think I was finished playing with you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's all, folks! Yes, with that, the series "On Top of Everything Else" is complete. But this won't be the end of my writing! I have plenty of ideas for other stories-- most, like this, being Harry Potter and HP Lovecraft cross-overs: after all, most of his many short stories are perfectly suitable for the Harry Potter characters. Most plans are for shorter one-shots, but of course, this entire conglomoration was originally intended to be a short piece of 10k words, until it developed into a full novel, then three novels! (Did you know that every 25k words is approximately 100 pages worth of a standardly-printed book? I'm honestly shocked I wrote so much.)
> 
> I sincerely hope you enjoyed this work: comments would be appreciated, both positive and negative (the latter, of course, preferably in the form of actual criticism with useful improvement suggestions, rather than flames). I'm always looking to improve my writing!
> 
>  
> 
> Song used is "Born to be Wild" by Steppenwolf.
> 
> "Scarfy"/"Scarf of Sexual Preference" is a reference to Starkid Production's parody "A Very Potter Musical".


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